Naruto Tales
by JAYSEN
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki has had the worst luck imaginable. But what if someone saw all of this and had the means to help him? Naru/Akane/Possible Harem, OOC and slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

_I'm back with yet ANOTHER new fic. It's a Naruto/Angel Tales crossover fic that starts out on a rather sad note. I expect skeptics and chronic flamers to flock to this, but the is FAN FICTION. While you are here, you are in MY world, and I think I speak for most, if not all authors on this site on this subject. I can't remember who I heard this from, but whoever said it, I back them up 100%._

_Disclaimer : I do NOT own Naruto or Angel Tales. If I did, why the Hell did I join the Navy?_

_**HOKAGE MONUMENT**_

Naruto sat atop of Mount Hokage, his feet dangling over the edge of the sculpted face of the Yondaime. This particular spot had always been a source of comfort to the young shinobi. Whenever he had been hurt, be it by the villagers, his so-called friends, or even his own teammates and sensei, he came here to calm his spirit and help heal his heart. Today had been particularly hard on the young Jinchuuriki. Today was the inauguration of the Godaime Hokage and everyone had come out to see her. Tsunade had given Naruto a special gaze and a wink to signify that she indeed thanked him for all he had done for her.

Naruto had proven himself to be a hero yet again. First, he proved it on his team's mission in Wave Country when he stood tall against Zabuza and Haku. Next, he had held off the dreaded Orochimaru in the forest of death in an attempt to save his teammates, only to have what little control he had crippled by a strange seal applied by the evil Sannin. Even after all that, he went on to defeat Kiba Inuzuka in fair combat, delivering some justice for himself and a dear friend. He then went on to swear vengeance and reap it against a Genin that even Sasuke couldn't have beaten. Directly after that, Naruto fought toe to toe with and defeated his fellow Demon Container, Gaara. After recovering from both his injuries and from the loss of the Sandaime, he and Jiraiya, his new teacher, set out to find the Slug Princess Tsunade to become their next Hokage, during which, he mastered the Rasengan, a jutsu thought to have been lost with it's creator, the Yondaime. With it, he helped to drive away Orochimaru and his assistant Kabuto and rescued Tsunade from herself.

He had indeed accomplished more than even a small handful of shinobi could lay claim to over the duration of their careers in such a short time, but this meant little to the people he wanted acknowledgement from like his teammates, sensei, and peers. They all still thought of him as a pathetic clown, not worth looking at or of even the most basic of courtesies and politeness. They knew nothing about him, but presumed to know everything. Even after his kunoichi teammate and long time crush, Sakura, had been told that Naruto was the one who rescued her form Gaara, she still vehemetly denied it and even took it out on Naruto himself, saying that he had no right to butt in on Sasuke's fight. She then hit him like she usually did, but this blow seemed to pierce his fragile heart, which brinds us here to this hallowed ground.

Unknown to anyone, even the Ichiraku's, Iruka, and now Jiraiya, Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, who had become like family to him, knew about this spots REAL significance, it's real meaning to the young shinobi. Only Hana Inuzuka and the late Sandaime, who cast a special Genjutsu over it to help Naruto protect it, knew about it. It was a series of seals that generated the illusion, operated by blood seal that was keyed to only open for Naruto himself. Hana called it the Garden of Tears. Naruto reflected on this hauntingly beautiful name as he gazes off slightly to the right.

The secluded part of the monument held a small patch of flowers that were all underneath a small Sakura tree. Under this tree in this beautiful patch of flowers, there stood 12 markers with twelve names on them. Each one held a vast array of both happy and painful memories attached to them as he looked over to the first marker, which had the name _'Yuki'_ engraved on it.

_**FLASHBACK**_

_He remembered the day he first saw her when he was merely seven years old. He had wandered into the Forest of Death after evading a hostile crowd that chased him in there, but lacked the nerve to pursue him any further. He ventured further and further into the dangerous area until he was attacked by a wild beast that lived there. Just before he was dinner, another creature snagged him and dragged him up into the upper canopy of the forest, where it was slightly safer._

_Naruto opened his eyes and saw that a massive white snake had coiled around him, looking at him with curiosity._

_"Uhhh...Hey, how's it goin'?" He chuckled out nervously._

_The snake seemed to study him closely, it's tongue flicking over him and getting his scent. The snake then took off with him through the trees at a rapid clip and delivered him to an area outside of the forest._

_Naruto was in shock. This snake was...different from the other animals in that whacked out forest. The very next day, he wandered inside again and managed to find it lounging in the sun. He approached the snake carefully and let her get his scent. After she did, she coiled around him gently and cuddled him, much to his amusement and joy. She became a friend to him. He gave her the name Yuki, due to her beautiful snow white scales. _

_His happiness wasn't meant to last, as the Chuunin Exams were now in progress. He was still inside the forest when a team of shinobi happened upon him and attacked him. Yuki came to his rescue and shielded him from a Fire jutsu, but it cost her her life. Naruto had some how managed to get her over to his favorite spot and buried her, placing her marker at the base of a cherry tree._

_**FLASHBACK END**_

He missed her very much, even thought they were together for such a short amount of time. It was one of the reasons why he hated Fire jutsu and Sasuke's almost exclusive use of them. His gaze wandered to another marker, this one marked _'Ran'_...

_**ANOTHER FLASHBACK**_

_Naruto was given a pet to help him cope with how lonely he was all the time, a small goldfish that he named Ran, after a water lily that he saw earlier and that the fish had the same color. He put her into a bowl and kept her close to his bedside as he poured out his heart and soul to her._

_"Ahhhh...It's not like you can really understand me, but if I just pretend that you can, it makes everything...not hurt so much." He confided in her one day as he left to go and grab some fish food for her._

_Unfortunately, he was always subject to angry people coming into his small apartment and raiding it. They found Ran's fishbowl and got a nasty idea. They poured massive amounts of salt into the water, strangling and killing Ran. When Naruto returned with her food, his heart broke. He put her in a small wooden box that he scavenged from a flower shop and buried her at he special place._

_"So you can still listen to me..." He whispered as he carried himself home._

_**END**_

Those small one-sided conversations may have made him look like a loon, but they meant the world to the lonely boy. He found that his memories just couldn't be suppressed as his gaze fell upon a third maker, marked _'Ayumi'_...

_**AGAIN...YOU KNOW THE DRILL**_

_During a new year's festival that he managed to sneak into, he won a ring toss game and won a prize, a small turtle. Upon thinking of a name for his new companion, he just watched her plod around in a bowl he filled with half sand and water. Finally, it came to the eight year old._

_"Aha! Ayumi-chan!" He declared as he paraded around his small apartment, holding him new friend aloft proudly. He brought her where ever he could, even to the Academy. There, she served as a focus for him, helping him concentrate and actually do better for a short time. His upward rise wasn't unnoticed by his peers, especially one Sasuke Uchiha and his pack of fangirls. He didn't like the fact the dead last was improving at a rapid pace and carried himself so differently and he sought out the reason why. He found out that it was because he believed his pet turtle was a sort of good luck charm._

_As a malicious prank, he waited until classes were over and tripped Naruto outside of the classroom, causing him to drop Ayumi on the floor. Sasuke was quick to snatch her away and dangled the helpless turtle in front of Naruto's face._

_"What's the matter, dobe?" He mocked as he flung to small turtle to the ground, expecting a splat, but her hard shell prevented what he wanted. In a fit of rage, he stomped on her, crushing her and killing her before Naruto's eyes. They all stayed just long enough to get a look at the despair on his face as they laughed at and taunted him._

_Naruto scraped up what was left of her and managed to cut class long enough to head out to what was becoming a small private graveyard that was coming to be known as the Garden of Tears. There, he buried her next to the others that had brought him brief periods of joy and happiness. Iruka saw what had happened and allowed him to cut class, just this once. The loss of a close friend was devastating, and to the boy who had no one, he would never be quite the same again._

_**END**_

Ayumi was a good companion. She made him feel more...normal. He'd still never forgiven Sasuke or Sakura for that to this day. Once again, he was dragged back into his vault of memories as his eyes unconsciously fell upon the next marker, _'Tamami'_...

_**HERE WE GO AGAIN...**_

_While wandering the streets one night in the rain, Naruto heard a meow coming from an alleyway. His natural curiosity getting to him, he went to investigate. After a moment of searching, he found the source of the noise, a small cat. The kitten walked up to him and brushed against his leg, asking to be picked up. Naruto obliged and took her home with him after he saw that she had no collar._

_On the way home, he was thinking of a name as he passed a jewelry store. Then, he looked into her eyes and saw that they were a beautiful teal color. He stopped and looked at the window display and saw a jewel of the same color, then it hit him. The perfect name for her._

_"Tamami...Yeah! C'mon, Tamami-chan! We're goin' home!" Naruto crowed as they marched off to his apartment._

_Over the next few weeks, the cat had become completely comfortable around the blond boy as he constantly talked to her as if she were human, laughing and playing with her. She wound up following him everywhere, even to the Academy. During his lunch breaks, he'd always be seen with her sitting on his lap, purring in contentment. Sadly, one day as he was on his way to school, he was running a bit late, so Tamami was running to to catch up with him since he was rather fast for a human. A horse drawn cart that barely missed him...had run over her. She died almost instantly. _

_In following with a sad tradition that was developing with all of his pets thus far, he buried her lovingly in the Garden of Tears._

_**END...AGAIN**_

_'Another friend...gone...I wish you were still with me.'_ He thought sadly as his couldn't stop himself from looking at the next marker, _'Midori'_...

_**MAN...MORE TO GO...**_

_Naruto's apartment had just been trashed again and he was still in the process of repairing and repainting it when he heard a small clatter from inside his apartment one night. He got up from his bed, wielding a kunai that Sarutobi had given to him, and searched out the cause of the noise. Hearing it again, he dashed into his kitchen, where his paint cans were, to find that they were knocked over and saw small paw prints of green paint leading up to his fridge. Peering inside, he saw a small Tanuki, covered in green paint, eating some leftover noodles._

_Instead of getting angry, he almost laughed himself sick. He had too much of a heart to kick the small creature out, so he made a make shift bed for her and cleaned her up. He noted that she was surprizingly calm about the whole thing. When he was finally finished, he saw that she had a spot of green paint on her coat that would not come off, but it gave him a inspiration for a name._

_"It's time for bed...Ne, Midori-chan?" He winked at the Tanuki, who seemed pleased to stay with him as it crawled under his covers._

_Naruto sighed. "I guess you can sleep in the bed for tonight. I just gave you a bath, after all."_

_Again, Naruto had a companion that helped him stave off his loneliness and again the villagers were angry with this development._

_Midori was a highly curious and adventurous little Tanuki who would go where ever he went. She also had a habit of trying to snag a nibble of what ever Naruto was eating, too. That habit...became her doom._

_A couple of merchants that wanted Naruto gone pretty badly had gotten hold of a particularly nasty pathogen and shadowed him to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand. Once there, they distracted the stand owners and Naruto, dumping the poison into his food. Midori snagged a bite of pork while Naruto got one too, but they both immediately fell ill. Teuchi and Ayame wasted no time in taking them to the hospital and alerted the Sandaime, who forced them to work on Naruto and fetch an Inuzuka vet to help out Midori._

_Luckily for Naruto, a perk of having the Kyuubi sealed inside of him was that he had an insane immune system and an inhuman resistance to any and all poisons. This virulent poison was no match for it. _

_Midori on the other hand, she didn't have his strength. As he got over the effects of the poison, he rushed out of the hospital and over to the vet clinic. There he was met with a friendly Inuzuka named Hana who was trying to treat Midori, but she had some terrible news for him._

_"Naruto-kun...I'm sorry. She didn't...make it." The vet informed him sadly._

_Naruto moved past her without a word and scooped her body up. The Sandaime put a hand on his shoulder and the two flickered away to his special place and lifted the Genjutsu that protected it. Then, Naruto gave her a silent funeral, Sarutobi performing a small Doton jutsu that opened a small hole in the ground and buried her gently. From there, the old Hokage brought the heartbroken boy home._

_**END...AGAIN**_

Midori held a very special place in his heart, as did the others. He later went back to the vet clinic and thanked Hana for what she tried to do for Midori from the bottom of his heart. As he left, she sighed as her heart went out to him.

_"Truly...The gods seem to hate this innocent boy. I didn't think that they could be this cruel..."_ She mused sadly as he left, but he overheard her.

There were more deaths of his beloved friends, more sad and heart shredding separations. There was Nana, a puppy he found and took in. Ruru, a small frog that had hopped into his apartment one rainy day. Mika, a rabbit that he freed form a trap and nursed back to health. Momo, a small monkey that became attached to him during a small hike. Tsubasa, a parakeet that had hurt it's wing and he helped heal it. Kurumi, a hamster that had escaped from someone's cage but stayed with him for some odd reason. but the one that hit him the hardest was fairly recent and made him hate most of his classmates, especially Sasuke and Kiba, driving him to the very brink of hating the village as a whole.

_'Akane...Sometimes, I can still feel you with me.' _Naruto cried inwardly, a few tears making their way down his face.

_**IF ALL OF THIS HAPPENED TO YOU, YOU'D START TO QUESTION IF THERE WAS A GOD, TOO...**_

_It was in the summer before his final year in the Academy and he was training near his special spot on Mount Hokage when he heard a whine coming from a bush near where he was resting after a grueling training session. Upon further inspection, he found that it was a young fox that was making the sounds and it's front leg was injured. _

_"Shh. Hey, I won't hurt you." He tried to soothe the young vixen as he tried to reach out to her, but she was distrustful of humans. She clamped down on his hand, but Naruto didn't jerk away. It hurt, because she had some really sharp teeth, but he held firm and held back his pain._

_"See? I promise I won't hurt you and I never break a promise." She told the golden coated vixen._

_She could see that he truly meant no harm, for she relented and let go. Feeling a tad guilty, she licked the wound she gave him to make him feel better. He responded by tearing off a piece of his shirt and soaked it with his drinking water, wrapping it around her wound. He then stood up and went to sit on top of the Yondaime's head to rest a bit._

_She followed him out there and sat beside him, nudging him slightly to announce her presense. They felt a sort of connection to each other that transcended all, just like with all of his other companions. _

_"Beautiful sunset, ain't it?" He asked, getting a yip in reply._

_She could feel that something was different about this human, like he was more fox than human with his scent. His scent and feel were both warm and inviting, she just couldn't tear herself away as he patted her on the head lightly and scratched just behind her ears, causing her to move closer._

_"Y'know...I need to think of a name for you. Mine's Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced himself as he continued to think of a name while looking into the sunset. It was breathtaking. It was a symphony of scarlet hues on a grand backdrop and it was while he thought of the perfect name for her. _

_"Akane...of the Scarlet Clouds. A beautiful name, ne?" He said aloud, grinning at her with a sidelong glance._

_From that moment on, they were inseparable. Her presence seemed to agitate the villagers even more than usual, but he didn't care and neither did she. She followed him everywhere and Iruka even allowed him to bring her to the Academy as a nin animal. Many of the faculty members were outraged by this, but the Hokage silenced them quickly. Iruka had his own reasons for allowing it. He knew all too well the kind of life Naruto had led, and he needed all the friends he could get, even if they weren't human. The vixen seemed to be a calming influence on him, as the pranks stopped and he quieted down. He was finally starting to recover from his heartbreak form all those previous tragedies that seemed to follow him around._

_The villagers took his change as a sign that he was gearing up for something big and sought to stop him before something happened. They couldn't do anything to him without bringing the Hokage down upon them, so they got their children to do their dirty work for them. _

_It was the day of the Kyuubi festival and his 12th birthday. He had long since stopped desiring a big birthday party thrown for him with lots of presents like he'd seen with all of the other kids. Now, he just wanted to be left in peace. This night, however, proved that the village was determined to never allow him a moment's peace or a shred of happiness. He had gotten a message to come to a party at the Academy. He figured that it couldn't hurt to check it out but he also let his guard down._

_He arrived at the school with Akane right behind him. It was dark and no one was around._

_"I don't like this, Akane-chan. Let's go." He told her, but they turned to leave too late as he felt a blow hit him from behind. The last thing he heard before he lost consciousness was the sound of a pain filled yelp from Akane._

_He woke up to being slapped across the face by someone who face was shrouded by the dark. He opened up an eye to see people standing around him, mostly adults, but with kids his age around. He could tell who two of these people were. One had eyes that were an onyx black and the other had a dog perched atop his head and both had stances that screamed of arrogance._

_'Sasuke-teme, Kiba-teme...What the hell is going on here? Where's Akane-chan?' He thought frantically._

_"Where's Akane-chan? What did you do to her?" Naruto snarled at them, only making them smirk._

_"That little fox bitch? I'll turn it into a pelt and wipe my ass with it. I'll give it back to you, of course. Maybe THIS will teach you your place, dobe." Kiba laughed in his face as Sasuke stabbed her with a kunai right in her chest, killing her slowly. The last thing she saw was Naruto screaming frantically for them to stop and calling for help._

_Naruto felt weak and useless. "No...Not again...Please no...The gods can't be this cruel..." He cried openly as he tried to crawl over to her body, only for Kiba to have Akamaru snatch her from his reach._

_Kiba and Sasuke, along with a few of his other classmates, teachers and some of the parents, began to advance on him until a trio of large hounds blocked their path, a young woman in a Chuunin vest and Inuzuka clan markings behind them, ready to fight to protect the boy._

_"If you want to get at this boy, you'll have to go through me." Hana snarled, her hounds growling at the crowd._

_"Sis! What the hell are you doing?" Kiba whined._

_"Kiba...I'll only ask you once. Return the fox to Naruto-kun and go home. Mom and I will deal with you and Akamaru later." She told him with cold fury. Akamaru knew better than to argue with an Alpha, so Akane's body was returned to Naruto, who clutched her while he cried his eyes out. _

_"Akamaru! Why'd you do that?" Kiba yelled at his nin dog, running at Naruto to get the fox back only to receive a powerful backhanded blow from his elder sister._

_Hana glared at him and told him to go home, and he obeyed her reluctantly, only pausing long enough to give Naruto a dirty look. She then turned a sad gaze at the young boy who's world was once again falling apart. She backed up slowly to him, keeping the hostile crowd in sight as she grasped his shoulder. Once she had hold of his shoulder, she teleported them both away from the area, leaving an angry crowd to be dealt with by the Hokage and his ANBU._

_They flickered into the area where the Genjutsu key was located, Naruto biting his thumb for the blood he needed to release the seal protecting his special place. The woods before them shimmered and revealed a beautiful meadow that had a gorgeous Cherry Blossom tree in the middle of it, a circle of markers around it. The way the moonlight was hitting it gave it a magical quality._

_"This is so beautiful..." Hana breathed, spellbound._

_Naruto used a small Doton jutsu that the Sandaime taught him to open a small hole in the ground. Wrapping Akane lovingly in his jacket, he lowered her into the hole and with another small set of handseals, he slowly closed up the grave and walked away. Hana felt her heart break as she walked out behind him, Naruto re-activating the Genjutsu. _

_"Akane-chan...I'll never forget you or the others. I'll always love you all." He murmured as Hana helped him home._

_**MAN...I FEEL DEPRESSED...**_

A few tears came unbidden as he stood up. This trip usually made him feel better, but he wasn't. If anything, he was now angry. He stood and said a silent prayer as he walked away. He looked up to the sky, wondering if his beloved friends saw all that he had accomplished and if they would be proud of him.

_**ELSEWHERE...**_

Unknown to our blond hero, somebody WAS watching him. She had been watching him for years. She cried for his pain, she smiled at his proudest moments.

"Naruto Uzumaki...Your soul is pure and spirit strong and brave. You loved them and saw them not as your pets, but as companions and equals for your heart to be broken so by their passing. You have endured evils that would have driven prople twice your age and experience into madness, but came out of it stronger than ever before. You even saved a fellow Jinchuuriki from himself and your selfish teammates from death at the risk of your own life. You, more than anyone, can lead this troubled world into the peace that had eluded it for so long. You, more than anyone I've ever seen, have proven yourself worthy of a Guardian Angel to help you along your way. I have just the candidates for the job." The woman stated with a proud smile.

She was exceptionally beautiful with long purple hair, a flowing white gown and holding a glowing staff. She was indeed proud of the boy and the immeasurable promise he showed and the unconditional love he was capable of.

Behind the woman, there were several girls there in robes, with halos and wings. The first three stepped forward. One had long red hair, the second hair aquamarine hair that was done up on the back with a clip. The third was shorter than the other two, her brown hair done up in a two bao.

"We are ready, Megami-sama." The tall red haired girl stated.

"I shall get things started, then." The now identified Megami-sama replied as she disappeared in a flash of white light.

_A/N: THIS is my newest brainchild that has been lurking in my notes for the past year or so. For those unfamiliar with the Angel Tales series, go to G o g o a n i m e . c o m to see it. I'm still in work on my other fics, but my muse has been rather...finicky. Ja ne!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey, y'all! JAYSEN here with another chapter of Naruto Tales! Now, people who've said that the last chapter was really sad and hoped that this chapter would have a happier tone, here you go! He is reunited with them after so long..._

_**KONOHA STREETS**_

Naruto took his time in getting back to his apartment. He simply saw no need to rush, even thought it was raining. He could see others under umbrella and huddling under awnings and inside shops as they waited for the rain to pass, but didn't really care. It's not like anyone was waiting for him, right?

As Naruto was passing through one of lesser tread paths, he decided to stop and dry off a bit under an awning. As he crouched down, he sighed as reflected on his day thus far.

_'Man...I hate to sound like the Teme, but my life is just so...'_ He thought before someone finished for him.

"Unlucky?" A voice called out from nearby.

The voice's close proximity rattled him as he whipped out a kunai from his sleeve and slipped into a defensive posture. Next to him was a table with a crystal ball and cards, with a cloaked woman sitting there.

_'What the hell? She wasn't there before...' _He thought as he took in this new person.

"Your teammates treat you as a nuisance. Your sensei treats you like a burden and your peers think of you as a pathetic clown. The villagers believe you to be a vile beast." She stated.

Naruto was really not liking this. The truth was bad enough, but a stranger popping up out of nowhere and telling him the obvious was really grating on him.

"Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious. Like I REALLY needed to hear that after the day I've had, especially from some insane stalker." Naruto muttered sarcastically.

"I can see everything without moving from this spot. Your female teammate cannot accept the truth that you rescued her from Suna's Jinchuuriki and grew quite violent with you. I know that since the Sandaime died, your stipend has been completely cut off and with no missions, you are hard put to even eat. Even the Godaime is powerless to help you right now and the Toad Sage is currently away on business." She told him as fact.

"What the hell? Who are you? How do you know these things about me?" Naruto demanded. This wasn't funny in the first place, but now his hackles were beginning to rise. Something was very wrong here.

"Your life has been harsh and sad." She told him suddenly, snapping him out of his anger, but back into his depression.

The woman saw this. She drew a card from the table and held it up.

"But...Things will change. Luck will come." She declared.

"Luck. Right. And tomorrow I'll be Hokage." He retorted and shook his head. He turned to run off, but the woman managed to slip a scroll into his pocket. It glowed with a blue light for only a brief moment.

She held up the card she had been handling and flipped it over to reveal an angel.

"From now on, Naruto-kun, Luck will come to you." She said as she vanished in a flash of light, leaving no trace of her ever being there.

_**NARUTO'S APARTMENT COMPLEX**_

Naruto had been roof hopping across town as the rain let up, enabling him to pick up the pace in getting home to dry off and maybe take a bath if the plumbing was still working. Nearby he saw Tora the Cat, escaping from another Genin team. He quickly snatched the cat and hit it in his jacket. The team that was tracking him passed them by and he felt that it was safe for him to go. The cat gave him a grateful meow as he scampered off, Naruto doing the same.

Naruto finally reached his apartment and removed his wet jacket and sandals, plopping down in his room as he thought of what had happened that day. He quickly decided to take a bath to warm up, so he stripped down and hopped in. Thankfully, the water was warm.

"Luck, huh? Like that'll ever happen." He muttered as he relaxed into his bath.

As he relaxed, the scroll that had been slipped into his pocket fell out and unfurled on his floor. A circular pattern, lined with twelve different colors and lines from each leading into a small central circle and a central diamond design appeared on it. The seal began to glow with a gentle blue light, which was getting stronger by the second.

Naruto yawned as he stepped out of the tub with a towel around his waist, rummaging through his fridge for something to drink. He found a bottle of water and took a quick tug on it, putting it back and was about to head back into his room, but the light to the common area was on.

"That's wierd. I thought I turned that off..." He wondered aloud as he palmed a kunai and tread cautiously toward the front of the house to see what was going on.

Once he got there, he was greeted by the sight of three girls around and near his age. The first had long red hair that was done up in a very loose ponytail and had red eyes. The second had bluish green hair that was done up in the back. The way it was done reminded him of that psycho exam proctor. The third had light brown hair with her bands framing her face, her hair done up in bao on each side. Her face oddly reminded him faintly of a hamster.

"Hi there!" The green haired girl greeted cheerfully.

"Good evening, nano!" The shorter brown haired girl greeted him in the same manner.

"I'm sorry. We arrived while you were bathing." The taller redhead apologized bowing slightly, but showed some cleavage, making him flush brightly.

"Oh, uh...What's up?" Naruto replied, scratching the back of his head sheepishly before realizing what was happening.

"Whoa! Hold up a sec! What the hell are you doing in here? Who the hell are you?" Naruto yelled.

The girls sat and stared at him for a moment before they huddled together.

"This must be such a shock for him." The redhead told the others

"I don't blame him! That's natural for this kind of situation." The green haired girl agreed.

"He looks so familiar... I just don't know why..." The brown haired girl.

"Hmm...You're right. He looks familiar to me, too." The red head replied.

"Me too! This is wierd." The green haired girl added.

"Excuse me...I'm still here." Naruto deadpanned.

The three girls turned and faced him again. The middle girl performed a three fingered bow, very formal.

"How do you do? My name in Ran." She introduced herself.

"My names Tsubasa! Hi there!" Tsubasa said with a wink.

"I'm Kurumi, nano!" She greeted, but her stomach rumbled.

"I wish you something sweet, though." She moaned.

Naruto looked like he was about to blow a fuse trying to figure this out.

"Wait! Who ARE you all? Come on! Joke's over!" He said.

Ran fielded this question. "Well, we're Guardian Angels! We've been sent by the Goddess to bring you good luck!" She explained to him.

"Well, now that we explained who we are, don't you think you should introduce yourself?" Tsubasa requested.

The frankness of the request caught him off guard, but he answered her nonetheless. "My's name's Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced himself.

"What do you do for a living? Where are your parents?" Tsubasa asked.

"Well, I'm a shinobi and I'm an...orphan." He replied. The look on his face made Tsubasa regret asking that question.

"Do you have girlfriend?" Kurumi asked.

"No. What girl in her right mind would want anything to do with me?" Was the curt reply.

All three winced at the acid in his tone. They looked the thirteen year old shinobi over carefully.

"I don't see why they wouldn't. You're kinda cute!" Tsubasa told him.

"Mmmhmm!" Kurumi agreed.

"Now, now girls. Focus." Ran lightly chided.

"Aw, come on, Ran! You don't find him a LITTLE cute?" Tsubasa teased.

"Well, I...I, well, sort of..." She stammered out.

"Oi! I still wanna know how you got in here!" Naruto called out.

He went unheard as Tsubasa stood up and clapped her hands twice. "All right now. Let's get started."

"Started on what?" Naruto asked warily.

"Why, helping you of course!" Ran answered with a smile.

"We'll start by cleaning this room!" She added, taking in the...lived in, condition of his apartment.

The girls quickly divided the tasks. Tsubasa offered to clean the room up. Kurumi left to take care of the laundry and Ran announced that she would cook dinner. All three of them, at the same time, puffed into smoke and when it cleared, they all had on aprons and bandannas in their hair.

"What the...?" He exclaimed as he accidentally let his towel drop, lettign the secret out, so to speak.

All three girls got a real good look at Mini-Naruto, stunned by the sight. Naruto however, passed out in embarrassment from having his manhood exposed suddenly in front of these attractive girls.

Slowly, Naruto was coming back around as the world came back into focus. He sat up and found that he was in his room again, tucked into bed and that it was morning.

"Oh, man...I need to stop sleeping on a empty stomach. I had such a wierd dream..." He muttered.

He looked around his room to find that two more futons were laid out and that the strange girls from yesterday were passed out on them, in their PJ's as well. Naruto immeadiately sequestered himself in the bathroom as he tried to sort all of this out. It was after a few moments of thinking that he heard them at the door.

"Hey, Naruto?" Kurumi asked, knocking on the door.

"Come on out!" Tsubasa called out to him.

"Uh, excuse me, but are you still upset about last night?" Ran asked gently.

"Don't worry about it! We WERE animals before we became Angels." Tsubasa explained.

_'What the hell is going on with those three? First their angels, now they were animals? Just what ARE they?' _He wondered.

Just then, there was a knock at his door.

"I'll get it!" Tsubasa chirped as she bounced over to the door.

At the door, there was an ANBU standing there and she looked confused. "I...didn't get the wrong apartment, did I? Naruto Uzumaki lives here?" She asked.

"Oh, Naruto-kun? He's in the bathroom. What's up?" She asked.

"He needs to see the Hokage immediately." The Cat masked ANBU relayed her instructions and then vanished in a flurry of leaves, leavign behind a trio of impressed Angels.

"That was...kinda neat, nano!" Kurumi piped up.

"I know!" Ran added as she went to relay the message.

"Um, Naruto-kun? The Hokage needs to see you." She told him.

Naruto sighed as he got up and left the bathroom, slipping on a surprisingly clean and mended jumpsuit.

"Did you guys do this?" He asked them.

"Uh huh." Ran answered.

"Nice..." He whispered as he turned to them.

"Well uh, you should probably go home now." He told them.

"But, if you mean OUR home..." Ran began.

"I think the Spirit World is a LITTLE bit different from home." Tsubasa finished.

"Besides, if we weren't here, you'd run right smack into bad luck again." Kurumi deadpanned.

Naruto just shook his head. "ANYWAY, everyone has to leave before I get back. Thanks for all that you did before, though." He replied as he left for Hokage Tower.

The girls all giggled to each other as they decided to shadow him through the village.

_**KONOHA STREETS**_

Naruto was walking along to the tower when he noticed that he was being tailed by someone. He looked back and noticed a shock of red hair pokeing out from behind a sign.

"Errrgghh..." He groaned out, frustrated. He decided to lose them, so he lept onto the rooftops and continued form there.

"Whoa...He's pretty fast." Tsubasa remarked.

"Awww...Now how are we gonna follow him?" Kurumi whined.

Ran scanned the skyline and spotted a tall tower at the center of the village with the kanji for Fire on it. "That has to be where he's headed. Let's go!" She told them as they took off for the tower as well.

Naruto passed by a bridge that spanned a small creek as the girls made to follow him, but stopped to catch their breath.

"Man...He's really fast!" Tsubasa commented inbetween gasps of air.

"He sure lost us pretty fast." Kurumi added.

"If only he could dump his bad luck just as quickly..." Tsubasa said as she looked back at Ran only to find that she was petrified with fear.

"Ran! What's wrong, nano?" Kurumi asked. Something about the way she was swaying wasn't right.

Ran slumped to her knees and her head drooped. "I...I'm...afraid of water..." She admitted.

Tsubasa was about to ask why, but the answer hit her quickly. "It's...because of your past life, isn't it?" She asked gently.

Ran simply nodded her head in acknowledgment.

"What were you in your past life?" Tsubasa asked again, looking for more pieces to the puzzle.

"I was a Goldfish." Ran told them silently, but they were unable to hear her.

"What? We couldn't hear you, nano." Kurumi asked.

"A Goldfish!" She repeated louder this time.

"What?" They asked at the same time, puzzled. Ran continued on to explain.

"One day, while my master was out, some mean people came into his room and poured salt into my bowl. I didn't even get to say goodbye to my master. He would talk and talk with me, even though I couldn't reply to him. I loved him so much..." Ran explained to them, but Tsubasa stopped her.

"Don't try to remember anymore, Ran. He sounds like a wonderful master, like mine was." She replied.

Ran shook off her fear and set herself straight again. "I'm fine now. Thank you."

"That's okay, nano! I'm glad I'm not the only one!" Kurumi confided with a smile.

"Hey! Me, too!" Tsubasa added.

The three girls caught their breath and continued on to the tower. Finally, Kurumi caught sight of their errant ward climbing the steps up to the Hokage's office.

"There's Naruto, nano!" Kurumi exclaimed, pointing him out.

"Come on, girls! Let's go!" Ran rallied them as she and Kurumi ran onward. Tsubasa had hung back for a moment to stare nervously at how the staircase that lead up to the Hokage's office wrapped around the OUTSIDE of the building.

"Tsubasa! Come on, let's go!" Ran shouted from the other side of the bridge. Tsubasa reluctantly followed them.

_**HOKAGE TOWER**_

Naruto walked up to the door to Tsunade's office and pushed it open in his usual manner. "Oi, Baa-chan! What's up?" Naruto asked of his leader and fellow blond.

_'It's useless to reprimand him for something he's been doing for years...'_She sighed in defeat as she addressed the young genin.

"Naruto, Listen...I've been kind of worried about you lately. Kakashi tells me that you constantly give your team the cold shoulder, especially Sasuke and Sakura. This just isn't like you. Is there something wrong, kiddo?" The confused woman asked of him with honest concern.

Naruto grimaced at the mention of his so-called team. They were the last people he wanted to talk about, but he couldn't give her the same treatment. He relented and told her.

"I guess I'm...just tired. I mean, I'm always doing all of the work on that team, but they treat me like a disease. I even brought you back to heal the Teme and Teme-sensei, but they STILL don't believe me. Do you remember what I told you on our way back to the village?" Naruto replied with a question of his own.

Tsunade sighed once again as she remembered what she'd both heard and seen. She tailed Team 7 one day and saw what Naruto was talking about. They treated him like a burden, even though he almost always handled things himself. Ever since she took up the office and from old files, every client outside of the village had a glowing opinion of the young blond. Her old friend Jirochi, boss of the Wasabi Clan from Port Degarashi, had noting but praise for the boy, admitting that he would be watching his career with great interest. Suna expressed interest in him due to how he defeated and changed their Jinchuuriki from a cold blooded monster to a calm and caring person.

The countries of Wave and Snow declared him a national hero, with Wave naming their bridge after him and Princess Koyuki of Snow requesting to BUY him from Konoha to be her personal bodyguard for an absurd amount of money, but she had to decline. He was Konoha's Ace in the Hole against any enemy Jinchuuriki as well as the Yondaime's Legacy. Also, even if she wouldn't admit to it, she didn't want him to leave because she would miss him too much, leaving an empty gap in her life once again.

_'He truly is one of the most under-appreciated people I've ever met...The Dead-last, Top rookie and kunoichi combo has been a real curse. I should really consider changing that around.'_ She mused as she replied to Naruto's question.

"Yes...I do remember that. I wish there was something I could do about it, but since you didn't make Chuunin and there aren't any available slots open on the other teams, my hands are tied. Just...hang in there, kiddo. With how you performed at the last exams, you're a shoe in to get promoted next time." Tsunade comforted, but there was STILL something bothering him. She'd known him long enough, as well as paid attention to his habits, to know when something was wrong.

Just as Naruto was making to leave, Tsunade stopped him again. "Naru-chan...Wait." She called out, using a private name reserved only for him.

"Hai?" He asked.

"There's...something else, isn't there? You can tell me." She told him. He knew he could confide in her, Shizune and surprisingly Jiraiya about anything, which was why they knew so much about him in the first place.

"Well...Yeah, there is. You see..." He started as he explained the past 24 hours in great detail.

Tsunade was...confused, I guess would be the best way to put it. These three unknown girls who just showed up out of the blue without the ANBU or anyone else finding them first, but instead of any hostile or malicious actions, they CLEAN his apartment, do his laundry, and cook dinner! Man...When this brat gets lucky, he gets LUCKY. There was no halfway with this kid.

_'Damn...I really need to drag this kid to a casino with me...Damn that Shizune..."That's not a good example to set for Naruto-chan!" Screw that! He gets worse from that old pervert Jiraiya!' _She thought.

Naruto wasn't lacking in adult guidance. It was just the actual good, wholesome guidance he was lacking. His primary sensei was one of the biggest, most incorrigible perverts the world has ever and will ever see. Shizune was the biggest worrywart Tsunade had ever known. An ulcer and a breakdown is only the beginning of her problems. Then there's Tsunade herself, one of the worst winos and gamblers in shinobi history. Oh yeah...real good role models.

Before we get TOO far off track, let's get back to the issue at hand.

"Well, this doesn't sound TOO bad..." Tsunade mused aloud.

"It's freaky! They came outta nowhere and claimed that they're freaking angels or animals, or some crap like that." He yelled, although he had to admit that they WERE pretty cute and they did share some of the same names as some of his beloved pets. Wait...What?

_'What? They also said they were Angels AND animals...It can't be...'_ He thought as he zoned out.

"Hey, kiddo! You in there?" The beautiful blond asked as she shook his shoulder. She knew from the haunted look in his eyes there was more to it than just that.

"Yeah...Yeah, I'm here." Naruto answered shakily, confirming her suspictions.

"Are you sure that's everything, Naru-chan? You know you can tell me anything." She told him softly and comfortingly. It was at times like this he viewed the beautiful Sannin as his mother, a figure in his life that he desperately needed.

He finally broke down and told her about his past, something that only Hana Inuzuka and old Sarutobi himself knew the whole story about. She was happy that he trusted her enough to open himself up to her like this, but she was also enraged that the village just couldn't let this boy be. Even worse, they took it out on defenseless animals, the only friends that Naruto's ever known. To do this to him and those poor animals was truly monstrous. Even Sakura, who had come to her begging for training, had a hand in this. Now, her chances of an apprenticeship had gone up in smoke.

_'No way in HELL am I taking that little bitch on as a student...Someone who would do such a thing doesn't deserve to learn my secrets.'_ She seethed with anger.

The mighty Sannin found herself shedding a few tears at his tale. "I'm...sorry, for what it's worth." She told him as she embraced him tightly.

She could tell that this was a very sore subject for him, even more so than the Kyuubi. He was also stuck on a team with two of the murderers of his friends. She now understood why he distrusted them so much and why he wanted to leave the team so badly. Even his crush on the pink haired girl was a farce. He was cordial and nice to them but beyond that, she couldn't blame him for not wanting to associate with them.

"It's...alright, Tsunade-chan. Listen, if you have the time, I'll take you there and introduce you to my friends." He told her with a sad smile. She nodded her head as she stood up and placed her hand on his shoulder, flickering them to where his true friends rest in peace, the Garden of Tears.

On the other side of the door, the three girls heard everything and were stunned. Were they indeed serving the master that showed them such loving care all those years ago? They had to know, so they bolted out of the tower, bound for Hokage Monument.

_**GARDEN OF TEARS**_

They appeared atop of the Yondaime's head on the monument and walked slightly over to the side. Tsunade could tell that there was a Genjutsu barrier up over a small patch of the forest, but it was very faint. Only a shinobi on par with herself or Jiraiya could notice it and only from very close by and had to have been set up by a master.

"Naru-chan? Did sensei set this up for you?" She asked.

Naruto responded by weaving through a set of handseals and biting his thumb for the blood to deactivate the Genjutsu barrier. The treeline shimmered and faded away to reveal the most beautiful meadow Tsunade had ever seen. Around the central Cherry Blossom Tree, she saw the twelve markers with the names of his loved ones inscribed on them, grave markers.

"Hey guys...It's me again. I just wanted to introduce someone special. Her name is Tsunade and she's become like a mother to me and I just wanted her to meet you all." He said aloud to the twelve markers.

She could almost feel as if something was watching them, something intangible and spiritual about this place. To the boy she'd come to know and love, this was hallowed ground, a sort of holy place and refuge for him. It was this place that knows of his entire life, all of his fears, worries, and joys. He was even more broken than she ever was, but this remarkable boy was so strong. Not for the first time, she felt truly proud of him.

Behind them, the three angels were huffing and puffing from their run up the mountain to catch up to them. They finally made it up the mountain as Kurumi followed his scent over to the special place. The view took their breath away and from a distance, they spotted the markers that bore their names.

Tsunade noticed them coming up from behind and whipped around quickly.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"You three again...I thought I told you to go home." Naruto said, his bangs shadowing his eyes.

"But...we aren't lying to you, nano! We can prove it!" Kurumi exclaimed as she and the other two stood by their graves and began to glow, their angelic robes shimmering into existence.

Naruto and Tsunade were stunned and floored by what they were seeing. She knew that this was no Genjutsu or trick, as she felt no chakra. This was real.

"Master...Don't you remember me? I'm Kurumi, the Hamster. You found me after I escaped from my cage and took me in! I loved you so much, nano!" She told him happily, touched that he still remembered them all so fondly.

"I'm Tsubasa, the Parakeet. I hurt my wing, but you took such good care of me." She told him of herself, opening up the floodgates of his memories even more.

"And I am Ran, the Goldfish. You won me at a festival and would always talk with me, even though I couldn't reply. You also took such good care of me and I missed you so much..." She told him, tears in their eyes.

Naruto stood ramrod straight. _'It IS them... They came back! Please Kami, let this be true...I missed them all so much...'_ He thought, his eyes screwed shut as he tried and failed to stop his tears from flowing freely as they rushed in to embrace him. He hoped that this wasn't all just a dream, that he wouldn't just wake up alone again, like so many wonderful dreams had ended.

"Are you...really back? To stay with me?" He asked, his voice small and light.

"Yes...we are. We've come home to you, master. We will never leave your side again." Ran answered him as she and her sister angels embraced him with their own arms for the first time. With all of the stress finally falling away from him, he succumbed to sleep on the spot. He hadn't had a good night's rest in many years, maybe this would finally help him recover.

Tsunade sat off to the side, smiling.

_'That boy has a lot of positive Karma that needed repaying somehow, and I guess that this is a start. If he believes them, that's good enough for me.'_ She surmised as she stood up and walked over to the group.

The girls didn't know who she was, as she wasn't in their master's life yet when they died.

"Uhhh, ma'am? Who are you?" Ran asked. She could guess that she was special to her master somehow. If she wasn't then she wouldn't be here.

"My name is Tsunade and I am the leader of this village, the Godaime Hokage." She answered with a easy grin.

"What are you to master, anyhow?" Tsubasa asked, cutting right to the point. This woman was indeed beautiful, but a bit too old for her master in her opinion.

"I am his Hokage, leader, and commander. But..." She paused, getting in closer to the three girls.

"Don't tell anyone this, but I see him...as a son. The child I never had the chance to have, but always wanted..." She explained to them. It all made perfect sense once the blonde woman finished her explanation of her relationship with the boy. During the conversation, Tsubasa noticed that she said Godaime Hokage. When she and the other angels were alive, they remembered a kindly old man being the Hokage, the Sandaime Hokage.

"Sarutobi-sensei was my teacher when I was Naru-chan's age and he WAS the Sandaime Hokage up until the invasion a couple of months ago. You see, he fought with and was killed by a traitor named Orochimaru, but managed to repel him and his forces. Naru-chan and my old teammate, Jiraiya, were sent out to find me and ask me to become the next Hokage..." Tsunade said as she told them about when she first met their master, the bet that was made, the fight with Orochimaru, and finally, their return to the village. All three girls only knew what went on in his life up to when they died, which was when Naruto was still very young. Now, this newer Naruto was like a hero out of a storybook. A hero in every sense of the word. They were filled with an even deeper sense of pride in him, but one thing still bothered them. What was it that made the people in this village hate him so much, save for only a small handful of people?

"Ummm, Tsunade-san? Why do people seem to hate him so much? He's a wonderful person..." Ran asked, speaking for the other two angels who nodded to the affirmative.

"No...That is his secret to tell, not mine. Sorry, girls." The beautiful Hokage told them with a sad smile.

The girls looked like they were going to protest, but a glance from Ran made them back down. "We understand. This secret must be very painful if he doesn't want to speak of it to anyone. But we want him to know that we wouldn't care, as he is the master that cared for us in our past lives and that we love him very much." The red haired girl told Tsunade, making the mighty kunoichi smile.

_'Naruto...Kami must really be trying to make things up to you. I happy for you and I will NOT let this village ruin this for you.'_Tsunade vowed as Naruto came around again.

"Uhhhhnnnn..." Naruto groaned as he came around. He looked around and saw the three girls.

"You ARE real!" He cheered as he stood up again. It was starting to get dark out as Tsunade needed to get back to her office and finish some paperwork. Naruto noticed that she was pressed for time and asked why she didn't use Kage Bunshin to do the work. Tsunade's mood lightened considerably as she cheerily flickered all of them to her office, made the clones and instructed them about the paperwork, and decided to call it a night, the group bound for Ichiraku Ramen to get some dinner.

Along the way, Naruto let out a relieved sigh. Things were finally looking up. Something told him that things were going to be just fine...

_A/N : Chapter two locked and loaded! Naruto's luck has made a dramatic and miraculous turn around. Tsunade knows about his little secret and about the angels, but has vowed to keep it a secret. She has hinted at the fact that Naruto has a closely guarded secret, but the girls assure that Naruto will always be their master and that they would always love him. Three angels down on earth, nine to go! How will the rest of Konoha deal with these new residents? Stay tuned, y'all!_


	3. Chapter 3

_ Okay now...Third Chapter is now open and ready for business! I have more action in this chapter and to those who don't see all of the Angels yet, this is only the third chapter! There's still more to go! Now, the Angels number grows a bit more and they meet Team 7! Uh oh..._

_**ICHIRAKU RAMEN**_

Tsunade and her party appeared in a flurry of leaves in front of the ramen stand, surprizing many of the people around them that the Hokage herself and three unknown yet cute girls were with the Kyuubi child, with Tsunade placing her hand on his shoulder as they walked into the stand.

As he lifted the curtain, Teuchi Ichiraku and his daughter Ayame turned around to greet their customers when she saw two familiar heads of blond hair.

"Hey there, Naruto-kun, Tsunade-sama! Strange weather lately, huh?" She greeted and referred to the rain that seemed to come out of nowhere the previous day and how today it looked like it never rained.

"Yeah...Tell me about it. I got caught out in it while training." Naruto grumbled.

Ayame was about to take their orders when she noticed that they weren't alone.

"Oh? Who are your new friends, Naruto-kun? Girlfriends, maybe?" Ayame teased her pseudo-little brother.

"WHAT? AYAME-ONECHAN!" Naruto yelled in embarrassment, much to the amusement of Tsunade and the girls, who took it upon themselves to make their own introductions.

"I am Ran. Pleased to meet you, Ayame-san." Ran said pleasantly.

"Hey there! I'm Tsubasa!" The aqua-green haired girl greeted happily.

"I'm Kurumi! Where's that wonderful smell coming from, nano?" The hamster-like girl chirped, sniffing the air intently.

Ayame chuckled lightly. "I'm Ayame Ichiraku and that's my dad in the back. We run and own this stand and Naruto-kun here has been our best customer for years! So, what'll your orders be?" She asked.

"Tonkatsu Ramen for me." Tsunade ordered.

"Miso Pork!" Naruto chirped.

"Umm...Same as Naruto-kun, actually." Ran replied.

"Same here!" Tsubasa seconded.

"Ditto, nano! Biggest one you've got!" Kurumi called out in a chipper voice.

"Alrightly then...Dad! One Tonkatsu and four Miso Pork!" Ayame yelled into the kitchen.

Soon the orders were ready and the ramen was brought out by Teuchi, who introduced himself to Naruto's new friends.

"So, these pretty young ladies are friends of yours, Naruto? I knew you had potential, kiddo!" Teuchi barked with laughter, clapping the boy he considered a nephew on the back. Naruto blushed heavily at the thought of anyone of them being his girlfriend and identical blush on the girls showed that they weren't averse to the idea, either. His normal, active personality fit Tsubasa like a glove, his appetite could match Kurumi's, and he was prone to bashful moments, similar to Ran.

The rest of the meal passed with more conversation and Tsunade explaining the situation in the village since much had changed since they had transmigrated. They were sad to hear that the kind old man that was the Hokage had passed away, but Tsunade was proving to be very accomidating. Ever since old Sarutobi died and since she found that he was her Godson, she had been holding on to his inheiritance, or what was left of it after the council taxed the heart and soul out of it. The house, a sizeable fortune, Minato's and Kushina's libraries, and some information on the Uzumaki remained. Most of the furniture from within the home had been taken as memorabilia, as had the pictures of the former occupants. All that remained was sealed within a large scroll that sat next to the Forbidden Scroll with a bloodseal upon it so that only the current Hokage and Naruto himself could open it. It was the ony way to safeguard what litte he had left. The time had come to give him the house.

_'No better time like the present...' _Tsunade mused.

"Say, Naru-chan...Since these girls are here to stay, where will they stay? Your small apartment can barely house you alone, let alone three more people." She asked him.

Naruto paused at the mention of living conditions. He truly hadn't thought about that.

_'Damn...Baa-chan has a good point. That little shack is barely big enough for me as it is and I can't make the girls cram themselves in there. (Sigh) I'll just have to pull in more D-Ranks using my clones to raise more money for a bigger apartment.'_ The diminuitive blond shinobi thought to himself.

Tsunade, who prided herself on being one of the only people that was able to tell what Naruto was really thinking, could tell what he was worried about. He felt that he would need to work at least four times harder than he already does.

_'He practically carries his team and nearly trains himself into a coma daily. The poor kid would work himself to death if I let him, not that his team or sensei would really care. I don't know where he thinks he'd find the energy to pull in more missions to finance a new apartment, but I won't let him do this alone. It's time he got another part of his inheiritance. He's more than earned it.'_ Tsunade mused.

He really did deserve more than what he got in life thus far, especially since the council, in all of their infinite wisdom, decided to cut off his stipend in the interest of drawing funds to _'rebuild'_ the village. She checked the register on a hunch and discovered that his stipend was the only one cut off.

"I already know what you're thinking, Naru-chan. I already found you a good place next to my own and before you worry about the payment for it, you'll just do some extra work for me in the office from time to time, I'll pay the rent, and we'll consider it an even exchange. That way, we'll both hold our heads up and you can think of it as extra training to become Hokage." She proposed. She knew he wouldn't accept it willy nilly. His work ethic wouldn't allow him to without earning it somehow. The Sandaime had him doing errands for him to earn his stipend and he knew more about that office than she even would.

"Thanks...Tsunade-kaasan." He thanked her, whispering the final part so that only she could hear him. She was happy to hear him refer to her as _"Momma Tsunade"._ It beat the hell out of Grandma, even though it was a front.

The group then paid for their tabs, or tried. Teuchi wouldn't hear of it, explaining that since he brought in some new customers, their meal was on the house tonight. Tsunade then took Naruto by the place that she told him about. The boy was in awe of the sheer size of the place, since the place he'd been iving in was so small and cramped. He was so excited that he began to jump and dance around like he used to, making Tsunade smile.

"THANK YOU, TSUNADE-KAACHAN!" He cheered as he wrapped her in a tight hug that left her gasping for breath as he bolted off for home.

"Kushina-chan...I really love your little boy, like he was my very own...I don't mean to take him from you, but I promise that from here on out, I'll do everything in my power to help him and protect him from his enemies here in this village." Tsunade vowed as she locked up and left for home for the night.

_**NARUTO'S APARTMENT COMPLEX**_

Naruto bolted into the apartment to tell the girls the good news to find ANOTHER girl there. She had auburn hair that as done in a manner that reminded him of a cat's ears, and she had Teal eyes that hid behind glasses. She was arguing with the other three girls over something when she noticed him walk through the door. Almost as if she teleported, she tackled him with a loving embrace.

"MASTER NARUTO! I MISSED YOU!" She cried as she nuzzled her cheek against his, again strangely similar to a cat.

"Wha...Who...When?" Was all the surprized blond could get out until Tsubasa answered him.

"Well...The Goddess decided that we weren't enough, so she sent Tamami here to _"Assist"_ us." The bird girl said sourly, folding her arms akimbo with a slight scowl. Ran and Kurumi didn't look too happy, either, with how affectionate Tamami was being...

_'Wait...Tamami? She's back!'_ Naruto caught her name and remembered her.

"I missed you too, Tamami-chan." He told the cat girl as he embraced her back.

"So...What did Miss Tsunade want to talk to you about?" Ran asked, garnering a smile from him.

"She wanted to show me an actual HOUSE near where she and Shizune-neechan live! In exchange for doing some extra work in her office, she'll give us the house fair and square!" He yelled in excitement, the other girls gasping in surprize.

"You mean...A bigger house? That's wonderful!" Tsubasa cheered.

"Yeah! She's so nice, nano!" Kurumi chimed in.

"This will solve our lodging problem in one go! I really need to meet her and say thank you!" Tamami added.

"So, when do we move in?" Ran asked.

"Next week! Let's get packing!" He cheered until a knock at the door.

"Coming!" He yelled as he ran to the door and opened it to reveal his _"Sensei"_ Kakashi.

"Naruto...I just came by to wonder why you weren't at team training this morning." He demanded with a scowl visible underneath his mask.

"I was with Tsunade-baachan this morning! She had something she wanted to talk to me about..." He answered, his hand over his seal.

Kakashi got the hint. "Next time, tell me first." He ordered but before disappearing, he noticed that he wasn't alone.

"Who's in there with you?" He asked suspiciously.

"Why does it matter? Is it so strange to you that I might ACTUALLY have company?" Naruto shot back. He couldn't have Kakashi OR his teammates finding out about the girls, not yet.

"Don't disrespect me, young man. As your sensei, I need to know about anyone you might associate with, like that troublemaker Anko. I told you not to hang around her." Kakashi scolded.

"So freaking what? I hang around with Anko-nee because she's actually nice to me, treats me like a person, and she'll explain things to me that you won't! Also, since when were YOU so concerned for MY wellbeing?" Naruto countered.

"I can see I won't get anywhere with you...just be at training on time next time." The Copy-nin ordered as he vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Who was THAT?" Tsubasa asked, eyebrow raised.

"That was my "Sensei" Kakashi Hatake." Naruto told them, airquoting the sensei part. They could tell that this person wasn't really in his good graces.

"I take it he's kind of a jerk, huh?" Tamami asked.

"That's an understatement..." He muttered before getting back to the subject they were on before, the new house.

_**A FEW DAYS LATER...**_

The girls woke up in the morning to find that Naruto had already left for training with his team.

"But, master didn't even have breakfast yet!" Tamami exclaimed.

"I know, so let's take him some to where ever he is, nano!" Kurumi suggested.

The girls quickly cooked up a small breakfast (Much to Kurumi's disappointment) and were out the door with a full bento box for their beloved master. The girls realised that they didn't know where Training Ground #7 was, so they asked the first person they saw, a girl with a blond ponytail that was walking out of a flower shop.

"Training Ground #7? It's down that way." Ino told the group of girl as they thanked her as they ran off. As they left, she noticed that they had a large bento box with them and she was adding two and two together, but somehow got five instead.

"Wait a minute...They're carrying a bento to Sasuke-kun's training ground...They CAN'T be going there for that baka Naruto, so they're more fangirls? This can't be good. A couple of them are older and prettier than me!" She yelled as she tore off out of the shop after them.

_**TRAINING GROUND #7**_

Naruto was locked in a sparring match against Sasuke, who was using his Sharingan to read his every move and intercept him. The match was set up for Taijutsu only, so that meant that Naruto couldn't use his Kage Bunshin to make up for what he was lacking in. It was true that he was training himself into the ground when not with his team and that Jiraiya showed him a trick or tip every time he was in town, but he just didn't get the constant instruction Sasuke got and Jiraiya made Naruto figure things out for himself, saying that he would be better for it if he did. His weight training was going along nicely and even though he wasn't nearly as fast as Lee, he was still plenty quick and he could make stuff up on the fly.

Not having a real style to use made him hard to predict, even for the Sharingan, not to mention that he had so much chakra and it was so dense, he made Sasuke's vision hazy. Kakashi noticed that and wouldn't have his favorite losing due to something like that. He ordered Naruto to put on chakra suppressing bracers to keep his chakra from messing up the Sharingan. Once he did that, Sasuke had no trouble tracking him and beat him soundly.

"Che...You're such a loser..." Sasuke drawled as he spun on his heel and strutted off to sit down and brood some more, his little cheerleader right on his heels while Kakashi gave a disgusted sigh.

"What on earth was that, Naruto? Are you even trying?" He scolded.

"You try fighting the Teme's Sharingan with YOUR chakra sealed and see how you do..." Naruto muttered.

"Don't talk back to me. I don't think your punsihment was heavy enough if you still have the energy to have such a smart mouth. Go do more laps around the training area. I have actual students to teach." Kakashi told him callously as he turned to go pamper the Emo more.

"Stupid asshole..." Naruto growled as he got started on his laps. Things have been going from bad to worse since they returned from the mission in Tea Country. Sasuke was even more of a unbearable shit head, Sakura was more of a bitch than ever before while Kakashi snubbed and punished him at any given opportunity. The idea of making Chuunin and leaving this god-forsaken team sound like paradise to him.

Soon, a quartet of girls arrived in the clearing and approached the rest of Team 7. Sakura eyed them nastily, thinking them to be more fangirls.

"Girls, you'll have to wait until we're done here to give Sasuke-kun his gifts." Kakashi said negligently without even looking up from his book.

"Yeah! You skanks get lost! Sasuke-kun is MINE!" Sakura, the rabid pink pitbull, snarled, earning a frown from Tsubasa.

"Who said we were here for that guy? We want to see Naruto-kun!" The aquamarine haired girl shot back.

"Yes, may we please speak with him? We want to give him this bento since he didn't eat breakfast this morning." Ran added in, trying to calm tempers. This Sakura girl was making it really hard to remain calm. Something about her just rubbed her the wrong way.

"Psh...Who would want anything to do with THAT loser?" Sasuke scoffed.

"A loser, huh? Would a loser have saved your butt countless times?" Tamami retorted. The other girls told her of Naruto's latest missions and of his feats and bravery. She loved her master before, but now he was like a hero in a fairytale.

"WHO TOLD YOU THAT? WHO? NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" Sasuke snarled as he glared death at the girl, his dirty secret out in the open.

Tsubasa pulled Tamami behind her to protect her from anything Sasuke may try. She was a rarity among Guardian Angels in the fact that she was trained to fight to a high degree and had access to her kinds own form of power, Reiki or Spiritual energy, to augment her performance. The Goddess wanted to make sure that the girls wouldn't be helpless down there, so all of them were at least proficient at fighting hand to hand in addition to their own spells, but a few actually specialized in it and she was one of them.

Sasuke snarled at the girl who bocked her path. "MOVE!"

"No. She is my sister, so I won't let you touch her! Besides, she's right! Naruto-kun is more than you could ever hope to be." Tsubasa shot back as she assumed her unarmed combat form which was Crane Style Kung Fu.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screeched as she threw herself at Tsubasa.

She swooped in low and swept the pink haired, horribly offensive joke of a kunoichi off of her feet and finished her with a palm strike to her solar plexsus, knocking the wind from her and incapacitating her easily all in one solid and fluid movement.

_'She took Sakura out with ease...This girl is more than she seems...On top of that, she knows Naruto and addresses him in a familiar manner.'_ Kakashi thought as he continued to watch.

Sasuke took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and nailed her in the back with a roundhouse kick, knocking her unconscious with a bleeding head injury as he advanced on her. He picked her up by the collar and cocked his fist back to finish her off, but an orange blur sent him flying back into a tree.

"Teme...I knew you were a coward...but this is going too far." Naruto snarled as wisps of crimson were beginning to be seen around him. The bracers that Kakashi had slapped on him were actually burning away to nothing as a wave of maelvolent anger swept over the offending party. Naruto was now setting the downed girl down gently while Ran worked on her injuries.

"Take care of her..." Naruto asked of Ran.

"I'll do whatever I can, Naruto-kun." Ran answered. Ran was another type of Angel. She was a medic and healer more than a combatant.

"Naruto. What do you think you're doing?" Kakashi demanded harshly.

"Protecting a friend. Something YOU and these two jerks wouldn't understand." Naruto shot back at him.

"Stand down and stop using that..._Thing's_ power right now." He ordered.

"Shut up, Hatake. I was trained to use this power by my REAL sensei. He was the one that taught me the Rasengan." Naruto growled at him as he turn to the girls.

Kakashi took a moment to process that information. _'Only one person could have taught him that...Jiraiya.'_ He thought.

"He is not your sensei, I am. Stop wasting Jiraiya-sama's time and I will not have you tarnishing the memory of the Yondaime with you using his jutsu. I forbid you from ever using it again." He ordered again.

"Piss off, Teme." He retorted as he loaded Tsubasa on his back, made a squad of clones to do the same with the other girls, and took off, glad that Tsubasa was unconscious for this or she would freak out.

Kakashi would have gone after him, but went to check on his favored student and only student in his mind. _'Naruto is becoming too powerful. I didn't even see him move when he took out Sasuke and due to those seals I put on him, I couldn't sense him. I need to do something.'_ He thought as he made a clone to carry Sakura and picked up Sasuke, taking them to the hospital.

In the bushes nearby, Ino had seen the whole thing and was just wierded out by it. She couldn't wrap her mind around anyone actually admitting to talking to Naruto, let alone wanting to be around him. She left the training ground comforted by the fact that they didn't seem to be competition.

_**HOKAGE'S OFFICE**_

Tsunade had just finished with another huge stack of paperwork and now she was reach for her sake stash so she could take a quick tug while Shizune wasn't around. She was busy enjoying the peace and was planning on helping Naruto move, or at least hiring a Genin team to help him and be there for a small party when the door flew open unceremoniuosly.

"What the hell?" She yelled, ready to dispense some pain when she saw who it was. It was Naruto and the girls but what worried her was the fact that Tsubasa was unconscious on Naruto's back and said boy was both worried and pissed.

"What happened?" She nearly demanded. If someone found out about them and tried to attack them, she'd show no mercy.

Naruto explained what had happened at the training ground earlier with the girls filling in the rest as Naruto wasn't there for all of it. By the end of the explaination, Tsunade was ready to strangle Team 7, but kept her priorities in sight.

"Give her to me. I'll take over." Tsuande commanded, pointing to her couch. Without hesitating, Naruto set her down carefully on the couch and kept the girls back. Tsunade noticed that her head wound from when she hit the tree was already healed and she was just suffering from the concussion.

"Who healed this? This is excellent work..." Tsunade murmured in appreciation.

"That would be me, Lady Tsunade." Ran answered calmly as she stepped forward.

"Tell me, what other kinds of specialties do you Angels have besides healing and fighters?" Tsunade asked of the eldest Angel.

"Well, as you now know, Tsubasa-chan is a fighter and I am a healer. Kurumi-chan is a tracker and Tamami-chan is a caster and all three are of the Intermediate rank and I am of the Senior rank. Angels climb in rank according to ability and their age, however, it is possible for a young Angel to advance to the Senior rank early if she the Goddess believes she is ready." Ran replied.

"This Goddess...She's your leader, right?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, she is the Goddess of the Animal Spirits and the Guardian Angels, nano! She was the one that gave us the chance to return to you, Naruto-kun. She told us that she had been watching your life since the day you were born and decided that you earned the right to have us returned to him since you cared for us more than life itself!" Kurumi said fielding the response this time.

Tsunade processed this new information as they awaited the fiesty bird girl's re-awakening. _'They aren't so helpless after all...That's very good for Naruto. I actually kind of proud of this girl for taking that Haruno girl to the cleaners like she did. I sounds like she might be at least high Genin with her fighting if she took pinky apart so easily and doesn't play around if she did it so quickly. This girl, Ran, sounds like the kind of girl I could take as my apprentice. She has the talent, a kind and nuturing nature, and the drive to learn. However...can they use Chakra?'_ She wondered.

"For the healing that you used...Did you use chakra to heal her?" Tsunade requested again.

"No. We Angels come from a spiritual realm and as such, we use Spiritual energies, or Reiki. We use it the same way that you use chakra, I believe." Ran answered.

"That would make sense...Then I CAN teach you, after all." Tsunade smirked at the crimson haired girl.

"Teach me? Why and what?" Ran asked, puzzled.

"My girl...I'm not only the Hokage because I'm strong but I'm also a Medic, possibly the best in the world and I've been looking for another apprentice for sometime now. My assistant, Shizune, was my first student, but she can hold her own now and she's nearly as good as me. If you all like, I could teach you how to defend yourselves better." Tsunade offered.

The girls were all stunned. From what they learned of the woman before them, she was a legendary kunoichi and healer, and she was offering to help teach them the skills they needed to survive in this harsh, unforgiving world and to better help their master. However, they felt that they needed to defer to their master for permission.

"I don't mind at all! That'll be kinda cool! Baa-chan's really tough and she cleaned my clock with only a flick of her fingers!" Naruto told them with a wide grin, unashamed that she beat him so easily.

"Good. Now, when Naruto helps me around the office, you all can come and we'll do the training then, okay?" The blond Hokage instructed.

"Hai, Tsunade-sensei!" The three conscious girls chimed enthusiastically, rousing their sister from her concussion.

"Uugghh...What hit me?" Tsubasa asked groggily.

"A cowardly Teme, that's who." Naruto fumed as he remembered Sasuke's little sneak attack.

"That jerk...Just wait till I see him again..." Tsubasa growled, nursing a small goose egg on her head while she visualized the various ways she could _educate_ said jerk on why attacking her was a bad idea. She was looking around at everyone else and got curious.

"What'd I miss?" She asked, to which the rest of the girls filled her in on what Tsuande asked. Tsubasa knew that the woman was strong, but wanted to see for herself what she could do. She was always more of a _"Put your money where your mouth is"_ type of person. Tsunade just chuckled and picked up a small bar of solid steel and bent it like it was made of wax. Next, she dragged them all outside of the tower and punched the ground, making them ALL fall on their asses in the crater she made herself.

"Wow...I believe you now..." Tsubasa said in a vacant tone, much to Tsunade's amusement.

_'I kind of like this girl...'_ She thought as she stretched her back again, showing off her impressive...figure unintentionally, making the girls eye their own chests with a sigh.

"Ha ha! Don't worry, you girls still have time to grow!" She chuckled good naturedly, easing their embarrassment. Naruto was a little lost in what they were talking about and asked what was so funny. The response he got from his psuedo-mother figure made him blush from his toes to the very tips of his wild blond hair.

"Oh my...I didn't know you were such a pervert, Naru-chan. Maybe Jiraiya's beginning to rub off on you..." She teased the boy, who vehemetly denied it in a heartbeat.

"N-NO! I am NOT like that raging pervert!" Naruto defended, jutting out his chin in defiance, casuing the Lady Hokage to let out a big belly laugh and the girls to giggle.

Tsunade enjoyed moments like this, when she could just forget about having to be the Hokage and just be herself. She loved sharing it with the very people who knew the real her and still loved her for it, like Jiraiya, Naruto, and Shizune. They were her family, and now these girls were being inducted into their small family.

It all wound down as they found themselves back inside her office and were preparing to go home when Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 entered the office.

"What do you want?" Tsunade asked in annoyance.

"Lady Tsuande, I am tired of Naruto constantly and openly disrespecting my authority. He went out and sought training from Jiraiya WITHOUT my permission and learned a dangerous jutsu from him that I feel he is too immature to wield. Now, he brought his little friends over to team practice today and that one _**(Pointing at Tsubasa)**_ maliciously beat up Sakura Haruno without provocation." Kakashi informed the Hokage, who was unmoved by his little speech.

"Yeah! That green haired freak insulted Sasuke-kun and sucker punched me! I don't know WHY anyone would like that annoying baka or even stick up for him when Sasuke-kun is around!" Sakura screeched.

"Really? Is that so, Haruno?" Tsunade asked in a dangerously calm tone as her eyes narrowed. She was REALLY looking forward to dropping the bad news that her bid for apprenticeship died a horrible, fiery death.

"Yeah! Tell her, Sasuke-kun!" The rabid mongoose of a female human yelled to her crush.

"Hn...That annoying chick got what was coming to her, but the dobe hit me from behind like a coward. Hmph...He knows that he could never beat me and he'll always be a loser." Sasuke sneered.

The girls were ready to pound them into paste, but Tsuande held them back with a glance...and a wink?

"So...If I refer to the footage from the security camera at the training site, it will jive with what you're telling me?" Tsunade asked, knowing that she had them on the ropes. She was counting on them being arrogant enough to try and prove her wrong.

They foolishly agreed and the footage played from where Naruto first showed up at the training ground and the events that went on from there, ending at where Naruto left with the girls in tow. Tsunade was not just pissed, but Uber pissed, Somebody-Drank-All-Of-My-Sake and Wrath of God type of pissed off.

"So Hatake...You saw fit to not only blatantly lie to me, but also to hinder the development of one of your Genin? Just because he was starting to pose a challange to your favorite and getting training from my pervert of a teammate? Might I remind you that Jiraiya outranks you by far and he has the right to train whomever he sees fit and he can teach his apprentice whatever he desires! He saved MY life with that jutsu and just because you have a little conniption about Naruto being the one chosen and not the Uchiha doesn't give you the right to do this to him! Furthermore, he was with ME yesterday and we had some important things to discuss, like his future!" She drilled into the smug Copy-nin.

"Why is it that a mere Genin, the Dead Last of all Genin, is so important?" He questioned.

"He has been the ward of the Hokage since birth, passed down from Sarutobi-sensei to ME and I take it VERY seriously! He was the one that brought me back here to heal yours and the Uchiha brat's sorry asses in the first place and take over this place as the Hokage!" She snarled in response. No way was she going to let this little one eyed pissant belly her around.

"So? He's STILL a little loser and why haven't you made me your apprentice yet? I need to impress Sasuke-kun!" Saukra butted in rudely.

_'Oh ho...I'm gonna enjoy this!'_ Tsunade thought wickedly.

"You? As MY apprentice? This HAS to be some kind of really bad, tasteless joke. Why would I want a pathetic, sniviling fangirl associated with MY teachings or with me in any way? I already found a worthy apprentice and it's not you! Just the sight of you makes me want to vomit!" Tsunade bellowed at the disrespectful girl, making her face scrunch up in fury.

"WHO IS SHE? I'LL CAVE HER FACE IN!" The she-beast shrieked in fury.

"I am, Miss Haruno." Ran answered in calm defiance.

"RRRAAGGGHHH!" Sakura screamed as she attempted to go Lou Ferrigno on Ran, but she was intercepted by Tsunade herself.

"That does it...Team 7 has pissed me off for the final time! You are hereby disbanded! Haruno, you and the Uchiha will be going back to the Academy to have you attitudes re-adjusted and YOU Hatake, are suspended for six months! Turn in your headbands before your leave and don't let that door hit your ass on the way out!" She ordered them with finality flaring her Ki at them for added effect.

"B-But what about the dobe? Why isn't HE being punished?" Sakura stammered out.

"Why should I go back to the Academy when I need to kill my brother and avenge my clan? How dare-" Sasuke ranted before Tsunade had him in a vice like grip.

"You listen and you'd better listen good because I'm only telling you this ONCE. I make the decsions around here and as to why you are going back and he is not is because he actually TRIED working with you, but the two of you are just too arrogant for your own good. As for your _vengence_, little boy...It'll have to wait. You had responsibilities as an active duty shinobi to serve the village, not yourself. Maybe your time in the Academy will help you remember your place, _**BOY**_." Tsunade snarled at them while tossing the Uchiha out the door like a sack of garbage, the other two scurrying behind him.

"THE COUNCIL WILL HEAR OF THIS!" Sasuke threatened.

"GOOD! I'LL CHOP THEM DOWN A PEG OR TWO WHEN THEY CRAWL IN HERE, TOO!" Tsunade responded.

The rest of the room's occupants looked on in sheer awe for the woman's commanding presense. She turned her attention back to them.

"What?" She asked.

"That was highly impressive, Lady Tsunade! Such a commanding presense!" Ran told her with a smile.

"Yeah! You really put those guys away!" Tsubasa added.

"Hey...I'm...free of them now?" Naruto asked quietly.

"Yeah...This pretty much sets you free. For missions, I'll just tack you onto existing teams for now and you'll be abe to work here without any troubles from Hatake or your teammates. When the time comes for the Chuunin exams again, I'll find you a team that needs a person and you'll take it with them, but remember to keep up on your training. Understood?" She told the young genin, who nodded his head quickly.

Naruto could breath easier now that the weight around his neck called Team 7 was gone. Ever since the girls came about, his luck had changed for the better and he couldn't wait to see what happened next.

_**AT NARUTO'S APARTMENT, GETTING READY TO MOVE**_

Naruto was on cloud nine an understandibly so. His former _Team_...If you could call them that, had just been disbanded with Sasuke and Sakura being shunted back to the Academy and Kakashi being suspended, pending a demotion for his blatant favortism and malicious sabotage of a career. Tsunade really came through for him this time, yet another reason why he loved the woman so much. Now, he was moving out of his crappy old apartment and into the house that Tsunade had picked out for him. The packing process went quickly, as Naruto didn't really have very much to begin with. Within an hour, they were already packed and ready to go, Naruto leaving a full crew of Kage Bunshin behind to clean the apartment from top to bottom and make it inspection ready.

Across town, Naruto had just opened the door to the house and he and the girls were in utter awe of how much space there was inside. The house had a total of seven bedrooms, 4 restrooms, two of them with baths in them. The girls were two to a room each while Naruto picked one for himself. They would have to go find furnishings, a LOT of them, to make the house more comfortable.

_'Maybe since the extra work I'll be doing will pay for the rent, there'll be extra money to make this feel more like home.'_ He thought as he felt his clones disperese, letting him know that the old apartment was as clean as it could possibly get. Hell, it probably looked ten times better than most of the other unit in that rinky dink, podunk complex.

_'That bastard Landlord will STILL find something to bitch about...'_ Naruto grumbled as he unpacked all of his clothes and looked around his room more. He noticed that his room alone was almost the size of his apartment. The same held true for the other rooms in the house, since the house itself was more like a mansion!

"Man...I must have done SOMETHING right in a past life..." He muttered, referring to his change in luck recently.

He went to check on the girls and called them all together so that they could all go out to Ichiraku's together for dinner.

"In the next day or so, let's all go by the dump to search for furniture! That's where I got most of my stuff!" Naruto told the girls, who agreed.

"That makes good financial sense, Master. If it's still serviceable and free, then we'll have found soem really good bargains." Tamami noted, being financially minded and savvy.

"But what abot day to day expenses?" Ran asked.

"Well, I bet we could find jobs to help out master! Those ninja missions are hard and some of them sound dangerous! We can't let Master shoulder all of that strain alone!" Tsubasa replied, receiving nods in return.

_**ELSEWHERE...**_

On a mountaintop not terribly far from Konoha, three figures were gathered around a hole that held an egg-like stone inside of it. This stone had the emblem of a dragon on it and it seemed to be bursting with power. The three figures around it were looking down at it with all seriousness. The first had on black robes with the kanji for Genbu, glasses, and his long, black hair tied up. The second was tallest by at least a head, had long silver hair that fell over one of his eyes, and was robed in red with the kanji for Suzaku. The last was by far the shortest and had wild platnum blond hair that was tipped with black, robed in white with the kanji for Byakko. Storm clouds were brewing all around them as the wind whipped at their robes, lightning crashing down nearby.

"Finally, we found it." The tallest one said.

"Yes...Now we can get our revenge on all of the humans for what they did to us animals! They had the nerve to seal the Great Spirits away inside of themselves to gain power!" The shortest snarled.

"Patience, brothers. We must awaken our big brother at the right time. For right now we must find this Naruto Uzumaki, and free the Kyuubi no Kitsune which has been sealed within him. Then, we can look for the other Great Animal spirits, kill their containers, and use them to restore our full powers." The middle told the others, who complied with his orders. In a flash of light, the three of them vanished as they looked for their target.

_ A/N: Whew...Number three up and loaded...Maybe now I'll be able to write more chapters for my other stories. Anyway, Team 7 is now kaput, Kakashi's jobless for six months and facing a demotion upon return to active duty. Naruto's luck is really changing for the better, ain't it? However...now the Saint Beasts have been introduced and are actively after the Jinchuuriki, including our Blond Bomber. Maybe they'll clash with the Akatsuki, who are after the same things?_

_ Also...I've just been in a rut, lately. I mean, The Westboro crazies actually GAINING the right to spread their poison like the KKK? Just because something is legal, doesn't mean you should do it, like bashing Homosexuals and picketing at Military funerals. If your read my profile, I AM a Navy veteran with ten years of loyal service to all of you, not just my government as well as having two VERY good friends that are gay and I went to High School with, Frank Pelayo and Mitchell Ralston. These Westboro Nazis need to be stopped! They're a menace to society and that they merely spreading their hate around while using the bible as a shield...Cowards._

_ If ANYONE has a problem with the military being laid to rest with the honor and dignity that they DIED earning...Read my profile and look me up. I'll be WAITING for you. Flaming me on the site will see you blocked, since you are too cowardly to face me._


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4 is now broadcasting live! I hear a lot of people wanted to see what everyone's favorite Hyuuga thought of the Angels and here you go...Right at the beginning! A timid girl can bear some real fangs if her crush is involved, like when she stood up to Neji. _

_Moving along...We also have the girls getting introduced to more of Konoha's denizens and the aftermath of Tsunade's punishments. I think it's poetic justice what happens and oh...Two more Angels!_

_**ONE WEEK LATER...**_

_**HYUUGA MANSION**_

Hinata Hyuuga had mixed feelings about the past few days. She was quite happy for her crush in the fact that he was no longer burdened with his team or his sensei and that he would now have to run missions with other teams, which included her own team. That meant she would have more time to be around him and by proxy, have more opportunities to confess her feelings to her blond beau.

However, having mixed feelings means that there's a downside to all of this, don't you think?

The other side of this coin was that there were new denizens of Konoha. Normally, this wouldn't be a cause for alarm or even a blip on the radar for the Hyuuga heiress, but these new citizens had shacked up with her favorite blond for some reason and to make things worse, they were female and the addressed him with familiarity and endearing suffixes, and two of them were older girls!

"What on earth is going on here? Just WHO are they and who do they think they are, moving in with Naruto-kun? I need to find out more about these...girls." Hinata muttered as she went back to thinking.

Neji was just passing by her room when he over heard his cousin's mutterings and could only deduce that they had something to do with Naruto. Since his defeat at the Chuunin Exams at the hands of said blond, he had mellowed out quite a bit, especially where Hinata was concerned due to what his uncle disclosed to him about his father's death. He had finally made his peace with the remainder of his family and let go of his hate, resulting in a more relaxed attitude that was readily noticeable.

On the subject of what he heard from Hinata, and from what he'd seen about town, plus from the rantings of the recently demoted members of the defunct Team 7, Naruto had these mysterious girls as his house guests. On Team 7, he knew that this was coming with the way Hatake mis-managed the team and the Haruno's complete uselessness, coupled with the Uchiha's dangerous aggression. He was surprized that it didn't happen sooner, but Naruto seemed to be the only sane or otherwise okay member of that team and Lady Tsunade finally did something about it, but that was neither here nor there. Back to the issue at hand, it seemed as though one of the girls laid out Sakura in less than a few seconds, but the Uchiha attacked her from behind only to get taken down by Naruto himself.

_'Hn...The Uchiha deserved that one, but I'm a little curious, myself.'_ He thought as he went along on his business, leaving Hinata to hers.

_**NARUTO'S HOUSE**_

Naruto woke up to the sounds of chaos within the confines of his house between the denizens of his house. It was the regular morning bathroom blitz as the girls clambered for bathroom time to get ready for the day.

_"Hey...Quit pushing!"_

_"Cut it out! I need to look good for master!"_

_"Ow! Get your toothbrush out of my eye!"_

_"Whoa! Whose hand is that?"_

_"Hurry up! I'm hungry, nano!"_

_"Nee-chan...Quit squishing me!"_

Yep, that was the sound of six..._**SIX**_, God help our poor little ramen junkie, six girls all trying to use the bathroom at the SAME TIME. Those of you who have lots of sisters or just live with many other females know that this is like hitting the beach at Normandy on D-Day. Pure pandemonium.

Now...Why six instead of four you ask? Well, let's shed some light on the subject, shall we?

_**FLASHBACK...**_

_Naruto was run down from all of the side jobs that Tsunade had him running and just wanted to lay down for a while._

_"Damn...Now I know why Shizune-neechan's always so tired. Kaa-chan's a slave driver!" Naruto muttered as he tried to climb into bed. To add insult to injury, he was starting to come down with a case of the flu._

_"Master! Where are you? Master! Weren't we supposed to go train today?" Tsubasa called from behind his door._

_"Master! Let's go get some Ramen, nano!" Kurumi this time._

_"Hey! He was supposed to help me go over the finances!" Tamami, of course._

_"Umm...Girls? Master's kind of tired..." Ran, the voice of reason._

_"No! Training!"_

_"Ramen!"_

_"Finances!"_

_This went on for a good twenty minutes before the scroll that the girls came from before statred to react again and opened up._

_"Aw man..." He moaned as two more figures appeared out of a bright flash of blue light._

_The first girl had to have been around 17 years old with very peculiar hair...purple hair and it looked oddly like bunny ears with the way it was done up. She also seemed to be holding a gigantic pocket watch..._

_The other girl was younger than Tamami, around 8 or so, and had royal blue hair tied off in twin tails that looks like puppy ears, complete with the big puppy dog eyes._

_"Master! It's me! Mika the Rabbit!"_

_"I'm Nana, the puppy you used to have!" The two girls told him._

_He was quite happy to see them, yes, but he was also a real mess at the moment. As soon as the girls heard what was going on behind the doors, they flooded into the room to see Naruto fall face first to the ground._

_"MASTER!" They all exclaimed as one._

_The called for Shizune to examine him, since Ran wasn't able to, she told them that it was only a case of the flu followed by acute exhaustion. _

_"I recommend that he stay in bed for a couple of days until this blows over. I've already told Lady Tsunade and she sends her apologies for working him so hard on top of everything else he has going...Wait a minute. There's MORE of you? What's going on here?" Shizune asked, bewildered as to why there were two more Angels._

_Now since Naruto trusted Tsunade, he trusted Shizune, too. She had been told of the girls and what they really were, since she would be giving Ran further medic training. _

_Mika moved in to explain why they were sent down in the first place. It seemed that the Goddess wasn't terribly happy with the way the girls had been fighting over Naruto attention, so she sent Mika and Nana to help pan things out. _

_"She gave me this watch to ration out time with master! Those who aren't taking care of master need to be in doll form. Now..." The Rabbit girl chimed as she drew a chart that had their names and slated times with their master._

_"What? That's not fair! Why can't I have dinner time with Master?" Kurumi whined._

_"Hey! My slot's an hour shorter that Mika's! I demand Equality!" Tamami yelled and fist-pumped._

_"Yeah...So's mine! I wanna train with Master!" Tsubasa added._

_"Aw! Hey...I wanna have more time to play with master!" Nana pouted._

_"But...This time slot is during my training with Shizune-sensei." Ran spoke out._

_"The Goddess decided to do this, so don't blame me!" Mika told them, her mouth twitching as if she wanted to smirk. The girls didn't catch it, but Shizune did._

_"Well, Ran will need time with me since she is my student and I can use Naruto-chan as an example for treating sickness." Shizune said, a knowing grin on her face._

_Mika sweated. She was told by the Goddess not to interfere with the training the others were taking part in, specifically Tsubasa and Ran. The deity was very grateful to the Sannin and her assistant for offering the training, as well as making Ran her apprentice._

_"Aw...Alright, fine!" Mika whined piteously, her well (?) conceived plan shot to hell in mere moments by the witty kunoichi, used to such things from her master, as she and her student began to treat the ill Naruto with Shizune guiding her through the process of scanning for symptoms._

_After around an hour, they finally came out of the room and told everyone that he was to sleep for a while undisturbed, which they heeded...reluctantly. _

_Later on, Tsunade dropped by to visit her ill psuedo-child only to find the two extra Angels there with him._

_"Okay...Maybe I missed something here. Ran dear...Would you mind explaining this to me?" Tsunade asked of her apprentice._

_"Hai, Tsunade-sensei. The Goddess thought that we fought for his attention too much, so she sent Mika and Nana here to help us iron things out. However, it seems that Mika-san had some...ulterior motives for her plans." Ran told her, casting a small scowl in Mika's direction, making the Rabbit girl flinch._

_"So...I already know what these girls were in their past lives, but what were you two?" Tsunade asked._

_"Well...Ma'am, I was a rabbit and Nana-chan was a puppy. You see, I died of loneliness and Nana got sick." Mika told the Sannin, a downcast lookon her face._

_Tsunade's features softened when she heard that. She could see that Mika's loneliness could cause her to be an attention seeker and clingy, while Nana was still so very young when she died._

_"Just...Take it easy on him for a bit and let him get used to you before trying anything, okay?" She stressed as she continued with her visit. She also found out the Angel Types that they were, with Mika being a Caster and Nana being a tracker-in-training. She suggested a few control exercises to Mika while she entertained Nana for a spell. She was a charming girl, a bit of a tomboy like Tsubasa, along with being bouncy and energetic just like she was in her past life as a puppy._

_"Well, I have to get going now. Take care of him, okay?" Tsunade asked as she left._

_**FLASHBACK END...**_

Take care of him they did...a little too much at times. Mika would always try to feed him personally while Nana always seemed to constantly bounce around him for attention. Thankfully, he managed to find an outlet for her energy in training with Team Gai. Lee took a shine to the little girl and constantly put her _"Youthfulness"_ through it's paces. As it seemed, even Lee's massive stamina wasn't enough to keep up with the young girl.

Gai had his questions, but withheld them as he felt that if Naruto wanted them to know, he would have told them. The girls seemed to make him happy and he left it at that. Tsubasa and Tenten seemed to hit it of quickly due to them both being tomboys and wanting to prove that being female didn't mean being helpless. Tamami and Neji seemed to understand one another, discussing topics such as business, which she knew an awful lot about for being younger than him. Gai was gad to have a medic on hand in Ran due to how often someone got hurt during their training sessions, mainly due to a errant kunai from Tenten or Gai-sensei going a little over the top.

Tsubasa was glad to learn from a Taijutsu master like Gai and drank in everything he could teach her about the style she wielded. The Crane Style was a somewhat obscure style for shinobi, but Tsubasa used it gracefully and learned a little bit of the Goken style to add some force to her blows though his weight training program.

_**KONOHA ACADEMY**_

Sasuke and Sakura were both sitting in an Academy classroom with kids a couple of years younger than they were on top of those that failed to become Genin in their class, stewing in rage over their current situation and the embarrassment they now had to deal with.

_**FLASHBACK...AGAIN**_

_The Council had a shit fit when they heard of Tsunade's punishment for their precious Uchiha and tried everything they could to get it overturned, a smug Sasuke leaning against the wall. However, Tsunade was a woman of her word when she declared that the office of Hokage was no longer a puppet for the council's convenience. The elders blurted out that she HAD to do as they ordered or else her assistant and Naruto would suffer and she snapped. As stated earlier, she got pissed, Wrath-Of-God pissed, as she hurled Homura through the door, Koharu out the window, Danzou through the floor, leaving a shell shocked Sasuke gaping with his jaw on the ground._

_"But...The Sandaime always gave in..." He said, stunned that someone actually stood up to him._

_"Yes...Sensei may have put up with this, but I refuse to. It's time that this council is reminded of the fact that this village is under MY command, not the other way around. They really fucked up when they threatened my precious people." Tsunade growled. Sasuke was scathingly angry by the way she put a stop on everything he was taking for granted._

_"This village owes me...You owe me just for being here. I demand that you give me back my licensce, or else." He threatened._

_"Or else what, you spoiled little brat?" Tsunade inched closer to him, her fist cocked and ready to dispense some badly needed discipline._

_"I wonder what another village would pay to have me in their ranks?" He retorted, not really knowing when to shut his trap due to the council not keeping him in check._

_"If you set one foot outside those gates without my say so, I'll grind your sorry little ass into paste, you arrogant little bastard. You belong to this village and if you try to betray us, you'll meet the same end as any other traitor, except you'll wish I'd killed you when I'm done." Tsunade snarled as she backhanded him, sending him to the floor in a heap._

_"You'll pay for this..." He vowed as he ran off to sulk and brood._

_**FLASHBACK END**_

Sasuke's cheek still sported the bruise from her backhanded blow, his hand unconsciously going to it as Iruka droned on and on about protocols and village laws. Sakura insisted on sitting next to him to fend off the fangirls that still existed in this class, like Ami and her flunkies, and that alone annoyed him to no end since they would never stop fighting and squabbling over him.

"Haruno! Fujikuro! Pay attention! Fujikuro, you're in danger of flunking again and Haruno, you've already been kicked out of the Shinobi program and back to the Academy! The both of you need to buckle down and pay attention!" Iruka scolded them.

"Hmph...Losers." Sasuke scoffed, getting Iruka's attention.

"I wouldn't talk if I were you, Uchiha. You were kicked out, as well." Iruka countered, making the class laugh at him.

"I wouldn't be here if I hadn't been saddled with that stupid Dobe! He always screwed things up for me!" Sasuke fired back.

"And yet, you're here and he'still out there as a shinobi, isn't that right? He's the hero of the Sand/Sound Invasion and he also brought Hokage-sama back to us after Sandaime-sama died, so Dobe or not, he's earned his place as a shinobi of this village." Iruka retorted with a knowing grin. He'd been given instructions to make sure that Sasuke received no special treatment this time around and to not take any shit from him. Oh, he was all too happy to comply with that order! The council let the brat walk all over him and the teaching staff with impunity, but now the free ride had screeched to a halt!

The rest of the class had heard of Naruto's heroics during the invasion and came to respect him quite a bit for how hard he fought to protect them all from the insane Sand Demon and actually defeated it. Even Ami, who was a chronic fangirl, came to respect the former dobe and how skilled and powerful he had become in such a short time. In the meantime, the rest of the class all jeered at Sasuke and Sakura for being sent back to the Academy. That dishonor was reserved for those who screwed up badly, but they were made an example of through humiliation, like they were now.

"Ha, ha! The Uchiha's not such a hotshot after all!" One student jeered.

"Yeah! The Dobe left his ass in the dust out of the classroom!" Another student agreed.

Sasuke was seething with rage as he made to stand up and try to establish the pecking order in the classroom when Iruka showed him that he was an instructor because he WANTED to be. He used to be an ANBU captain back in his day, but retired after the Uchiha Massacre and resumed his original Chuunin rank. In a flash, he was behind Sasuke, holding a kunai to his neck.

"I would seriously reconsider your course of action, Sasuke. While you are in MY classroom, you will follow MY rules. If you don't like it, you can leave the shinobi program. However, if you choose to drop out, you will no longer be permitted to practice any of the shinobi arts. You will be a civilian, nothing more." Iruka stated.

"WHAT? Then how am I supposed avenge my clan?" Sasuke roared.

"You won't. Pure and simple." The schoolteacher retorted, his arms crossed.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT TO SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screamed.

"I can and will. Hokage-sama has seen fit to re-vamp the educational system to give we educators more authority in the classrooms, about time I say. Now, if you two will kindly quiet down, I have others in here that would like to actually learn something." Iruka answered her in a matter of fact tone going back to what he was doing. Leaving the two ex-members of Team 7 to stew in their hatred.

_'I'll get that blond bitch of a Hokage back for this if it's the last thing I do! But first, Iruka, the Dobe, and his wenches will pay the price for disrespecting an Uchiha.'_ Sasuke thought as he went back to scowling.

The final bell had finally rung and all of the students nearly avalanched out of the Academy, Sasuke skulking out on his own with Sakura following him like usual, badgering him with her shrill and mindless banter as was par of course with her around.

"Sasuke-kun! I really hope we're on the same team again! That would so nice and we won't have to deal with that _dobe _trying to show you up again..." Sakura yammered on until Sasuke shoved her away harshly, pinning her to a nearby wall.

"What did you say?" He snarled as he stood over her threateningly.

"W-What? All I said was we won't have to deal with that dobe taking the credit for saving the village." Sakura repeated, stammering out of fear.

"Damn that dobe...Where did he get that power and that summon when I need it more?" Sasuke screamed in her face in fury.

"B-but Sasuke-kun...You're already stronger than that dobe!" Sakura cried.

"No...I want to know what made that dobe so much stronger than me...He will tell me or his wenches will." Sasuke snarled again as he tore off to find the blond or his party.

_**ON THE TRAINING FIELDS...**_

Naruto and the girls had just gotten through with a training session with Team 10 and were resting, whom Naruto introduced the girls to and vice versa. Asuma at first asked who they were and where they came from, but Naruto and the Hokage wanted anything having to do with them classified, so he and the girls crafted a cover story. They were all from some rural village that had been destroyed and had no place to go, so Konoha took them in. The Hokage asked Naruto to keep an eye on them, so they lived with him.

Ino seemed to buy it, as did Chouji, but Shikamaru was too damn smart for his own good and Asuma looked like he had some questions later, but wouldn't push it. Ino was curious after she saw them en route to the Training Fields last week, but found that they were there for Naruto and not Sasuke. In addition to that, she bore witness to Sasuke's cowardly attack and the subsequent events that took place in that clearing, including Kakashi's attempted upbraiding and Naruto's surprizing show of force. Then, there was Sasuke and Sakura being sent back to the Academy. That really got her to sit down and think for a moment as to what they possibly could have done to get sent back there, but Naruto didn't as was essentially a free shinobi, as Asuma had explained to them. The problem with that was, that he didn't explain _what_ had happened to Team 7, only that it was dissolved.

Nana was running around like a maniac, laughing at the top of her little lungs while playing with Chouji and making him get off of his ass and exercise. Mika was off to the side, Naruto getting her to focus on her training for a change, which was rapidly draining her Reiki stores. However, the object was to expand her reserves, with Tamami doing the same training. Mika, being of the Senior Rank, took it upon herself to start teaching the younger caster a new mid-level offensive spell, Sokatsui.

Off with Ino and Tsubasa, they seemed to hit it off nicely after a good sparring session. Tsubasa had initially pegged Ino as a Girly Girl, but that only would have been correct BEFORE the Chuunin Exams. Afterwards, she started to take her training far more seriously. The two actually got a decent match out of it and wound up dog tired afterward.

"Seriously...Are you sure you weren't a kunoichi before? If you were in my class, Forehead's spot would have been in trouble!" Ino exclaimed with a grin.

"Forehead? Who's that?" Tsubasa asked.

"Oh...That's what I always call Sakura, because of that gigantic forehead of hers." Ino answered.

"Oh..._Her._" Tsubasa replied, her expression now very dark and angry.

"Whoa...What did Forehead do to piss you off?" Ino asked, taken aback by her sudden hostility. Even Ran, the gentle one, and the little girl seemed to scowl at the mere mention of the name.

"Ohhh ho..." Tsubasa growled as she recanted what had happened last week with Team 7...

_**HEY...I JUST WANT TO EXPLAIN THINGS...SO SUE ME!**_

_Naruto was locked in a sparring match against Sasuke, who was using his Sharingan to read his every move and intercept him. The match was set up for Taijutsu only, so that meant that Naruto couldn't use his Kage Bunshin to make up for what he was lacking in. It was true that he was training himself into the ground when not with his team and that Jiraiya showed him a trick or tip every time he was in town, but he just didn't get the constant instruction Sasuke got and Jiraiya made Naruto figure things out for himself, saying that he would be better for it if he did. His weight training was going along nicely and even though he wasn't nearly as fast as Lee, he was still plenty quick and he could make stuff up on the fly._

_Not having a real style to use made him hard to predict, even for the Sharingan, not to mention that he had so much chakra and it was so dense, he made Sasuke's vision hazy. Kakashi noticed that and wouldn't have his favorite losing due to something like that. He ordered Naruto to put on chakra suppressing bracers to keep his chakra from messing up the Sharingan. Once he did that, Sasuke had no trouble tracking him and beat him soundly._

_"Che...You're such a loser..." Sasuke drawled as he spun on his heel and strutted off to sit down and brood some more, his little cheerleader right on his heels while Kakashi gave a disgusted sigh._

_"What on earth was that, Naruto? Are you even trying?" He scolded._

_"You try fighting the Teme's Sharingan with YOUR chakra sealed and see how you do..." Naruto muttered._

_"Don't talk back to me. I don't think your punishment was heavy enough if you still have the energy to have such a smart mouth. Go do more laps around the training area. I have actual students to teach." Kakashi told him callously as he turned to go pamper the Emo more._

_"Stupid asshole..." Naruto growled as he got started on his laps. Things have been going from bad to worse since they returned from the mission in Tea Country. Sasuke was even more of a unbearable shit head, Sakura was more of a bitch than ever before while Kakashi snubbed and punished him at any given opportunity. The idea of making Chuunin and leaving this god-forsaken team sounded like paradise to him._

_Soon, a quartet of girls arrived in the clearing and approached the rest of Team 7. Sakura eyed them nastily, thinking them to be more fangirls._

_"Girls, you'll have to wait until we're done here to give Sasuke-kun his gifts." Kakashi said negligently without even looking up from his book._

_"Yeah! You skanks get lost! Sasuke-kun is MINE!" Sakura, the rabid pink pitbull, snarled, earning a frown from Tsubasa._

_"Who said we were here for that guy? We want to see Naruto-kun!" The aquamarine haired girl shot back._

_"Yes, may we please speak with him? We want to give him this bento since he didn't eat breakfast this morning." Ran added in, trying to calm tempers. This Sakura girl was making it really hard to remain calm. Something about her just rubbed her the wrong way._

_"Psh...Who would want anything to do with THAT loser?" Sasuke scoffed._

_"A loser, huh? Would a loser have saved your butt countless times?" Tamami retorted. The other girls told her of Naruto's latest missions and of his feats and bravery. She loved her master before, but now he was like a hero in a fairytale._

_"WHO TOLD YOU THAT? WHO? NO ONE WAS SUPPOSED TO KNOW!" Sasuke snarled as he glared death at the girl, his dirty secret out in the open._

_Tsubasa pulled Tamami behind her to protect her from anything Sasuke may try. _

_Sasuke snarled at the girl who bocked her path. "MOVE!"_

_"No. She is my sister, so I won't let you touch her! Besides, she's right! Naruto-kun is more than you could ever hope to be." Tsubasa shot back as she assumed her unarmed combat form which was Crane Style Kung Fu._

_"HOW DARE YOU INSULT SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura screeched as she threw herself at Tsubasa._

_She swooped in low and swept the pink haired, horribly offensive joke of a kunoichi off of her feet and finished her with a palm strike to her solar plexsus, knocking the wind from her and incapacitating her easily all in one solid and fluid movement._

_Sasuke took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and nailed her in the back with a roundhouse kick, knocking her unconscious with a bleeding head injury as he advanced on her. He picked her up by the collar and cocked his fist back to finish her off, but an orange blur sent him flying back into a tree._

_"Teme...I knew you were a coward...but this is going too far." Naruto snarled, a shroud of red chakra enveloping him. The bracers that Kakashi had slapped on him were actually burning away to nothing as a wave of malevolent anger swept over the offending party. Naruto was now setting the downed girl down gently while Ran worked on her injuries._

_"Take care of her..." Naruto asked of Ran._

_"I'll do whatever I can, Naruto-kun." Ran answered._

_"Naruto. What do you think you're doing?" Kakashi demanded harshly._

_"Protecting a friend. Something YOU and these two jerks wouldn't understand." Naruto shot back at him._

_"Stand down and stop using that...Thing's power right now." He ordered._

_"Shut up, Hatake. I was trained to use this power by my REAL sensei. He was the one that taught me the Rasengan." Naruto growled at him as he turn to the girls._

_"He is not your sensei, I am. Stop wasting Jiraiya-sama's time and I will not have you tarnishing the memory of the Yondaime with you using his jutsu. I forbid you from ever using it again." He ordered again._

_"Piss off, Teme." He retorted as he loaded Tsubasa on his back, made a squad of clones to do the same with the other girls, and took off, glad that Tsubasa was unconscious for this or she would freak out._

_**THERE...HAPPY NOW? END!**_

Tsubasa, Naruto and the girls wound down the tale. They told about the red chakra, but the girls all knew about the Kyuubi, as they had been briefed about it by the Goddess herself, and knew not to tell anyone else about it.

Ino was speechless at the end. Half of her wanted to refute what they said, but the severe look on Naruto's face told a very different story. On top of that, she was an outsider who only knew what she saw for herself and on top of that, Tamami was the one that was attacked for telling the truth. Then there was Naruto and his surprizing show of force as well as the reappearance of that red chakra. Although, from what she saw during Naruto's match against Neji, it was completely possible that this was the emergence of some sort of unknown bloodline, like Shikamaru thought. One more thought emerged within her. She was glad that Asuma was _nothing_ like Kakashi.

As for Asuma, the talk was making him remember the fallout from that particular incident thinking about how things went down last week...

_**ANOTHER**_ _**FLASH BACK...HEY! MAYBE THIS WILL START A NEW TREND!**_

_The other sensei had been briefed on what had happened to Team 7 and were called in to judge their fellow sensei and none of them looked very happy with Kakashi for what he had been found guilty of. _

_"I believe that he is an insult to everything it means to be a sensei. He has taken what it means to be one and spit all over it." Kurenai stated, the coldness in her tone making everyone flinch._

_"I have to say that his blatant favortism makes the rest of us look bad. The Uzumaki kid made a good showing for himself without him and he got pissed off about it. That sounds more like a sore loser than someone that should be trusted with students." Asuma added to the tribunal._

_"I have seen him as my youthful rival for as long as I can remember, but his unyouthful actions border on treason. On top of that, the Goken style is a Dojo only fighting style, taught ONLY to students of MY choosing. It is the only legacy I have to leave behind when I die, but he stole it and even worse, taught it to the Uchiha without permission. I agree with Asuma...He is not to be trusted with students or in general for his unyouthful transgressions." Gai told them, ending the Tribunal. What was really shocking was that Gai only used the word "youth" three times and even then his voice was as hard as steel. Everyone knew from how he sounded that he was highly upset._

_Tsunade was sitting in her chair, flanked by Shikaku Nara, her Jounin Commander, and Ibiki Morino, her equivalent to a Chief of Police and his assistant Anko Mitarashi, presiding over the trial and going over evidence. After the testimonies of the other Jounin Sensei, they had seen and heard enough._

_"Kakashi Hatake...Rise for the verdict." Ibiki called out, the condemned told as he is told._

_"For the crime of deliberately and maliciously sabotaging the career of one of your own students, for gross negligence and incompetence of command, I, the Godaime Hokage Tsunade Senju, do hereby bestow the following punishment :_

_You are hereby suspended from any shinobi activities, including training for six months. After this suspension is over, you will be demoted to Chuunin and will never be fit for promotion to Jounin or Tokubetsu Jounin ever again, neither will you ever be eligible for any other special duty, such as instructor duty or ANBU service. Furthermore, your Sharingan shall remain sealed after your suspension is up. Will will not removed it, as it is a keepsake of your deceased friend, but make no mistake...Sharingan Kakashi will be gone forever." Tsunade decreed._

_Kakashi's jaw dropped when he heard the punishment. He didn't think that the counicl would let them go THAT far. He believed that they would prevent it from getting too bad since he was the only person left that could teach Sasuke how to use his Sharingan and he voiced this._

_"B-but...How can I teach Sasuke how to use his Sharingan if mine is sealed? This isn't fair!" Kakashi declared._

_"So troublesome...The Uchiha has texts left over in his Clan's libraries that he can learn from, that's if he can graduate from the Academy. Also, on the matter of your punishment, this is more than fair, considering that what you tried to pull could be classified as treason and sabotage." Shikaku pointed out._

_"This is because I refused to teach that little Uzumaki monster, the Sandaime and Godaime's little pet demon, isn't it?" Kakashi sneered at the panel._

_"No. What you have done is a serious crime, Hatake. The fact that Uzumaki is the victim is irrelevent. The fact remains is that he was one of the two that I saw were ready for Chuunin rank. He showed that he had the guts to continue on into the unknown, he pulled his team through the forest and he fought his way to the finals. Even when you abandoned him, he still found a way to overcome the Hyuuga kid AND beat the crap out of Suna's jinchuuriki. Yet, when it came time for recommendations, you shot him down as soon as you found out that the Uchiha didn't make the cut, am I right?" Ibiki replied, shooting down another one of his barbs._

_Kakashi knew that he was screwed. All of the downplaying he had done in the mission and training reports...it had all come back to haunt him. The Third was keeping a critical eye on him and now he knew that was what Anko was doing, as well, keeping tabs on him through Naruto. Now that Tsunade was in charge, she wasn't letting the council do whatever they wanted, so the free ride he had been granted had ground to a screeching halt. She had been shooting down every excuse that he sent her way. _

_Kakashi was standing to retort, but he was cut off by Gai holding him down and Asuma next to him, his trench knives at his throat._

_"Quit making excuses, Hatake." Asuma told him crossly._

_"What would you know? YOU didn't have the demon child forced onto you...I was forced to train my sensei's killer!" Kakashi spat at him._

_"Your sensei would be ashamed of you, Hatake. He was the one that declared Naruto a hero for being used as a living sacrifice to save us all, including YOU, you unyouthful, ungrateful bastard!" Gai roared._

_"ENOUGH!" Tsunade roared, her voice halting all activity in the room._

_"You have your punishment, Hatake. You will report to the ANBU sealing facility for your chakra suppression seals. Then, you will be no more than a civilian for six months. Leave my sight, Hatake and remember, this is your last chance. You mess this up one more time, and I'll see you at the end of a rope." Tsunade growled as she spun on her heel and left the room, the ANBU guards escorting him to the sealing facility._

_**EHH...MAYBE NOT...**_

Asuma took a long drag on his cigarette and sighed the smoke out.

_'That was a nasty trial and we haven't even begun to see all of the repercussions of it. I've gotta hand it to Lady Tsunade, though...She's got more guts than my old man ever had with how she strong-armed the council and putting that mob of sycophants in their place.'_ He thought as he looked at the council's favorite target, talking and conversing with his Genin freely along with his mini-entourage.

_'It's good that he's happy for once in his life. After all he's had to suffer, he's still a good kid.'_ Asuma told himself inwardly until a hand snatched away his lit cigarette and snuffed it. He looked for the culprit and saw a girl with auburn hair and teal eyes slightly glaring at him.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"You shouldn't smoke! It's bad for you!" Tamami chided, shaking her finger at him like she was scolding a child, making Team 10 burst into laughter especially Ino.

"That...That was priceless! I've been trying to get Asuma-sensei to quit smoking ever since I met him!" She guffawed and praised.

"Well, he really should stop. It is detrimental to one's health and it could cause problems later on in life." Ran added.

Asuma, who was still slightly sulking due to the fact that Tamami had snuffed his LAST cigarette, stood up with a groan and looked at his watch. It was time to go home already.

"Alright, kids...Pack it in. It's time to go home. Naruto...I'm going to get my team a mission tomorrow, a C-Rank. You can join us if you want." He announced as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Cool...That means we can get groceries tomorrow." Naruto commented, going over a mental checklist of things to get while Tamami was doing the math.

"Mas-Naruto-kun...We'll need around 11,900 Ryou _**(Going off of Yen...)**_ for groceries by my estimation." Tamami calculated as she quickly corrected herself, but Ino caught it. She mentally filed that away for later.

"Hmmm...I think I can swing that along with visiting the bath house tonight as a small treat, along with a trip to Ichiraku." Naruto replied, getting nods of approval from his 'friends'.

"Wait...Ichiraku again, Naruto? Why don't you come with us to Shushuya's before we join you at the bath house? We'll get a group discount and make the bill cheaper, plus I could use a good soak!" Chouji suggested.

"I don't see why not. What do you girls think?" Naruto asked.

"I think we should join Ino-san and her team this evening. It sounds wonderful!" Ran said happily, a smile adorning her face.

"Yeah! Some girl talk would put a nice cap on the night!" Tsubasa added, winking at her newly found friend.

"Mmmm...Barbeque, nano..." Kurumi drooled.

"Yay! Barbeque!" Nana cheered. She WAS a puppy before she became an Angel, so meat was a must for her.

"I'll feed you, Na-ru-to-kun." Mika told the hapless blond sesually, making everyone raise an eyebrow and Naruto to flush brightly and the other girls to grit their teeth..

"Well...Since this place is an All-You-Can-Eat joint, we should do it, if only to let Kurumi stuff herself silly without breaking the bank." Tamami agreed.

Chouji's eyes lit up at the prospect of a worthy challenger.

"LET'S DO THIS!" He roared, rushing for the BBQ joint, the rest following him.

Unknown to them, they had someone tailing them from the treeline, roiling with rage.

"I'm going to kill you, Dobe...You and those whores..." Sasuke snarled as he made off to follow them, waiting for another chance to catch them off guard.

_A/N: Well...Here's chapter 4 for ya. Team Ten and Team Gai have met the girls and so far the cover story they cooked up seems to be holding for now. Anyway, the remainder of Team 7 got what was coming to them, but it looks like Sasuke wants to learn the hard way. He'll learn alright...heh heh. We also have Mika and Nana on the scene, too! More Angelic goodness!_

_Anyway...The spells, I've been getting from Bleach, using their Kido spells since they both use Reiatsu in a sense. There will be more later on and to those of you who think that the Angels are getting too combat oriented, look at where they ARE. Naruto's world is NOT a happy or safe place and they need to be able to defend themselves to an extent. Also, I've already changed so many things around in canon, so don't expect me to follow every single part and then try to rip on me for trying to diviate._

_There...I've said my piece._


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter five is now ready for your browsing pleasure! Here, We have a continuation of the same day, but here the girls and master will encounter their first crisis, one that nearly rips them apart. People have flamed me for Kakashi's punishment, but they forget one thing...Justice can be a real bitch._

_**KONOHA BATH HOUSE**_

The guys of Team 10 were simply enjoying a good, leisurely soak in the hot springs after a filling dinner, not really thinking about anything at all and quite enjoying it. As they expected, Kurumi and Chouji got into an eating competition and for a good hour, they were matching each other plate for plate, but exhaustion was kicking in and Kurumi as STILL going strong.

_'Holy CRAP! Where does she put it all?'_ He thought frantically until he finally gave out.

"Hee, hee! I win, nano!" Kurumi chirped cheerfully, until all that she ate caught up with her. Luckily, Ran managed to get her to the bathroom in time before the levy broke, so to speak.

"I'm back, nano..." She groaned, holding her stomach as she sat down gingerly, right next to a passed out Chouji.

"Whoa...I didn't think I'd see ANYBODY out eat Chouji, nevermind a girl." Shikamaru commented, clearly impressed. The rest had stopped eating a while ago, even Naruto stopped and he ate like a horse. After they settled the bill, Naruto Henge'd two of his clones into wheelbarrows to carry their food coma'd friends out of the establishment and down to the hot baths to bake off some of the food, which brings us to this point in time. Even though the boys were enjoying the peace and quiet, a conversation eventually got started.

"Hey, guys?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah?" Shikamaru replied.

"Did you guys ever have a pet that...you saw as a best friend?" He asked.

"Whoa...Where'd that come from?" Chouji asked.

"C'mon, guys...Humor me." Naruto half-whined.

"Alright...Alright...I guess for me, it was this one deer that always eat out of my hands when I was really little, just before the Academy. I would just sit and talk with it, and it wouldn't run away. I guess you could call it a friend." Shikamaru replied.

"Did you name him or her?" Naruto asked.

"No...I didn't. Later on, that deer was taken to the slaughter house for dinner, one of the few that meet that fate, because it wouldn't breed. I got a little sad, but that was around the time I met Chouji and you." Shikamaru answered, then turned to Chouji.

"How 'bout you?" He asked his portly friend.

"Nah...Never really did that." Chouji answered honestly, looking to Naruto.

"Well, Naruto...Your turn." He said. The last thing they thought would happen was for Naruto to get a pained, sad look on his face as he told them about his friends, carefully omitting the Garden of Tears and the truth about the girls. He wanted the Garden to remain safe and it's location unknown.

By the end, even Shikamaru was feeling pretty crappy about the whole thing, but Naruto told them that he was over it, that it did him no good to sulk over it and to do so would be an insult to their memory.

_'He's stronger than he looks...'_ Shikamaru thought.

"What get's me, though, is why people did that to you?" Chouji asked.

"That...I can't tell you. Not yet." He told them cryptically. They were about to question him further, but the look Naruto gave them told them that asking him right now would be a bad idea.

_On the girl's side..._

All of the girls were enoying they soak, especially Kurumi. The hot water was easing her sore stomach. They did have a little trouble at first, since Ran is terrified of water. Ino questioned it, but it was explained as a childhood trauma, which she bought.

"But, Ran...This is hot water!" Tsubasa explained.

Ran visibly relaxed and before they knew it, she was in the water up to her neck, taking in a good soak with the rest of them.

"Ahh...Goldfish are so gullible." Mika murmured, to which the other Angels agreed.

"A Goldfish? Is that some kind of inside joke?" Ino asked.

"Oh...Uh...Yeah...Heh, heh." Tamami explained quickly, while Tsubasa ribbed Mika.

_"You idiot! Be careful!"_ The bird girl hissed.

"Yeah...So anyway, what's the attraction with Naruto? I can see that he's kind of cute in a way, but he can be a bit...dense and immature sometimes, no offense." Ino inquired.

"None taken. He's not as dense as people think he is. He's...just really lonely and always thought that his acting out would grab people's attention. He's actually really nice and he put everyone else ahead of himself. In fact, since Lady Tsunade asked him to put us up in his new house, he's gone out of his way to make us feel comfortable." Ran explained, making Ino a bit thoughtful.

"Hmmm...I suppose so...Well, that's your business. He's a good enough guy, though, from what I've seen today." Ino shrugged, letting all further questions go.

The girls all grinned to each other, their secret was safe...for now.

_**KONOHA STREETS**_

The group had finished their baths and filed out of the bath house and into the street.

"Well...Guess it's time to head out. My mom'll kill me if I'm not home soon. See ya." Shikamaru sighed, Chouji following him.

"It was a fun night, all in all. It was nice getting in some girl talk for once and with an older girl, Mika! I'm surrounded by males all the time, I have to work part-time at my parent's flower shop and I have almost no time to socialize with any of my civilian friends, not to mention Sakura never speaks to me anymore. I'm a little lonely, myself." Ino admitted.

"No prob! I'll come around to the Flower Shop every once and a while!" The Rabbit girl chimed.

Naruto was glad that the girls were making friends within the village and the girls were happy to have a friend here, too. It would make helping their master that much easier. Goodbyes were said and Naruto and his party were on their way home.

_**KATON : GOUKAKYU!**_

Naruto and the girls managed to get out of the way of the massive fireball and turned to face their attacker...to find Sasuke standing on top of a nearby building, already preparing another jutsu.

_**KATON : HOUSENKA!**_

A flurry of fireballs raced at them, but this time, Tamami was quick on the draw and had a spell waiting.

_**ENKOSEN!**_

A barrier of Reiki solidified around them and deflected the fireballs from hitting their mark. Tamami let the barrier drop, panting slightly. Casting the defensive spell so quickly had left her winded and now she was vulnerable as she keeled over, while Mika charged up another spell.

"Tamami-chan!" Naruto exclaimed, catching her before she fell.

"I-I'm alright...Master...Just a little winded. I'll be fine." She explained.

Naruto nodded as he and Tsubasa moved in front of the others. Kurumi wasn't really meant for combat and Ran wasn't much of a fighter, either. However, Naruto and Tsubasa weren't really fresh for combat due to training earlier and Nana was too young to be in a serious battle. Mika was an experienced caster and her spells packed a wallop, but her physical speed wasn't much better than a normal girl and she needed time to get the spells off. The situation was looking pretty grim.

"Sasuke! What the hell is your damage? You could have hurt them or started a fire!" Naruto yelled.

"Shut UP! You will tell me how you got stronger than me!" Sasuke ranted.

"I don't really know! I just train really hard and fight for my friends! That gives me strength!" Naruto said honestly.

"You LIE! TELL ME NOW, OR I'LL BEAT IT OUT OF YOUR WHORES!" Sasuke screamed, insanity burning in his Sharingan eyes.

"You bastard! Take that back!" Mika roared, trembling with anger.

"Make me!" Sasuke retorted as he swooped down to engage them.

"Mika-chan! Stay back and protect the others! Nana-chan...Stay back! This Teme won't think twice about killing you!" Naruto ordered as he and Tsubasa engaged Sasuke.

Normally, Naruto's chakra would make using his Sharingan difficult, but since Naruto was still tired, he was able to freely use it. He was able to track every single move that they made and was able to counter them. The pair still put up a hell of a fight, managing to at least injure Sasuke with their tandem attacks and the clones he could manage.

"*Hahh* What the hell is the matter with you, Sasuke? You're more of an asshole than usual!" Naruto yelled.

Sasuke gave them an evil smirk as dark flame-like marks crept up his face and arms, a Chidori forming in his hand.

"Last chance, Dobe...Tell me what I want to know, or you get to watch me gut these wenches." He sneered.

"You...You meanie! I'll beat you up!" Nana yelled as she made a bee line for Sasuke, to Naruto's horror. The sick grin on Sasuke's face told volumes about what he was about to do so Naruto acted.

"NOOOO! YOU BASTARD!" Naruto screamed as he forced himself into Sasuke's trajectory.

The Chidori connected with Naruto's chest, running him through with a sickening squelch, just barely missing his heart.

"You...b-bastard...Won't let you..." Naruto managed to gasp out as Sasuke forcefully removed Naruto from his arm, letting him fall to the ground with blood rapidly flowing out of him.

"NO! MASTER!" Ran screamed as she rushed up to her fallen master and tried to heal him, not having much success.

The young Angel was nearly traumatized when she witnessed her master being impaled, his blood spattering on her clothes.

"M-master?" She asked in a trembling voice as she went into shock.

"NANA! RAN!" Mika shouted, trying to warn them, but it wasn't working. Gritting her teeth, she concentraited on the most powerful spell she could manage.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke demanded of her, temporarily winded from using the Chidori.

"EAT THIS!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, leveling her palms at him before he could react.

_**RAIKOUHOU!**_

A blast of pure energy flew from her palms, hitting the Uchiha squarely in the chest and sending him through a wall across the street. The spell she used was usually a highly destructive one, but her fatigue and haste sapped some of the yield it could have had. Just the sheer effort it took to force the spell out in her tired state caused her to hit the ground hard, out like a light.

A fight like this would draw lots of attention and it did, in the form of one Anko Mitarashi. She got there just in time to see the Uchiha get blasted by an unknown jutsu from a young girl, while another was hunched over a badly bleeding figure, joined by other young girls who were huddled over the bleeding figure.

"What the hell is going on here?" She yelled as she got closer to the downed person...which turned out to be her favorite brat.

"Oh my god...NARUTO!" Anko screamed in horror as she scrambled to his side.

"It won't stop...It won't stop bleeding!" Ran cried as she desperately tried to stem the flow of blood from his wound.

From behind them, they heard a stirring sound as Sasuke freed himself from the wall. He was only stunned from the blast Mika shot him with thanks to his Curse Seal. Even with the yield reduced, without that Curse Seal he would have been in a world of hurt. He wobbled for a moment before he started to run right at his target, intending to finish what he started.

_**SENEI'JASHU!**_

Sasuke was stopped stone cold in his tracks by a small horde of snakes, most wrapped around his waist with a few around his throat. He was turned to face an angry Snake Mistress.

"You little shit...If it weren't for my oath to uphold the law, I'd gut you slowly for what you just did." Anko snarled as she choked Sasuke into unconsciousness.

Her scream attracted an ANBU group that had come within range.

"Mitarashi, what has happened here?" The Captain, Neko, asked until she saw Naruto lying in a pool of blood.

"Who did this?" She hissed.

"This little shit right here. Just...take him away before I gut him on the spot." Anko said, completely disgusted.

"Hai. I will inform Hokage-sama immeadiately." She told Anko, turning to one of her team members.

"Take Sasuke Uchiha straight to the holding cells and keep him under full guard. No one is to come near that cell except Hokage-sama herself." Neko instructed, the ANBU doing as he was told while she herself left to inform Tsunade.

A moment later, a frantic Tsunade took over healing Naruto while the exhausted group of girls huddled together, trying to comfort each other after their first major battle.

"Now...Can you tell me what happened here?" Anko asked as softly as she could.

"W-we were coming out of the bath house and said goodbye to Ino-san and her team. We then walked down toward our house when Uchiha-san attacked us..." Ran said, telling the tale form when they first made contact with the Uchiha to that very moment.

"That little bastard...I swear that little bastard will get what he deserves. I'll kill the council myself if I have to." Anko snarled, slightly startling the girls.

"Miss Anko...What are you to Naruto-kun?" Ran asked. Mika and Tsubasa, as tired as they were, couldn't muster the question, but wanted to know this just as badly.

"I guess you could say...like big sister. You see, me and another woman, Hana Inuzuka, have been watching over him from time to time and he sorta sees us as his big sisters because of it. He kinda grew on us, y'know? I was hard NOT to like him..." Anko reminesed with the girls, telling them a couple of stories that they didn't know about him while they waited for Tsunade to patch Naruto up well enough to move him.

Finally, Tsunade stopped working on him.

"I finally managed to stop the bleeding. We can move him to the hospital, now." She said, trying to fight back her tears and fury.

The rest of them nodded and moved without complaint or comment, simply obeying her words. Tsunade carried her _son_ personally to the hospital for further treatment, while Anko summoned a Kage Bunshin to help her carry Mika and Nana.

Not too far away, a quartet of shadows had watched it all unfold.

"So...do you think that chicken-shit council will let that little turd off the hook?" A voice, female and rough, asked her companions.

"Lord Orochimaru told me that this pathetic village spoils the Uchiha brat rotten, so I think he'll be out with a slap on the wrists. Then...we'll be free to spring our offer for him to join us. Let's wait a little longer." Another voice answered. The rest seemed to be in agreement as they melded back into the trees.

_**KONOHA HOSPITAL**_

Tsunade crashed through the doors of the hospital in a hurry and rushed right past the admission desk, Anko of the girls right behind her.

"H-hey! Get back here!" The duty nurse called out not really catching who came in.

"BACK OFF! We have an emergency patient who's critical! Make yourself useful and get Shizune here NOW! While you're at it, get me a room for these two, as well!" Anko yelled at her as she and the girls continued, the nurse doing as she was ordered.

A few minutes saw Shizune's arrival in the O.R., who was horrified at the nasty wound Naruto had sustained. He had been completely gored with a fist sized hole clean through his chest.

_'The only reason Naruto-chan is still alive is because to the Kyuubi...Only two people could have done this, either Kakashi...No. Kakashi's chakra has been sealed off for six months. Wait...Sasuke. He can use that jutsu, too, because of that idiot Kakashi. He will PAY for this!'_ The normally calm brunette thought angrily, but was still careful to control her healing. Her baby brother was counting on her.

Outside, Anko sat with the girls and a newcomer, one Hana Inuzuka, waiting for some kind of news on Naruto's condition. She had introduced herself as one of Naruto's friends, even though she was older than him by at least 6 years...and that she knew of the Garden, one of the three living people to ever see it.

"Y-you mean...You know about us?" Ran asked, on guard.

"What do you mean by that?" Anko asked, confused. She knew that they could be trusted with Naruto, since Ran tried to heal him and possibly saved his life by keeping him alive long enough for Tsunade to arrive, plus from the account of events, Tsubasa fought along side him and Mika was responsible for embedding the Uchiha in the wall when she found them. She just didn't know what they could possibly have to hide.

As luck would have it, Tsunade came out of the O.R with Shizune.

"Naruto will have to tell you...if he chooses to. It's his secret too, not just their's. We want to limit the people that know about this to a select few that we know we can trust." Tsunade explained to the girls relief. Anko, Hana, and Shizune were satisfied with that, since Naruto trusted them implicitly.

"How is he?" Anko asked.

"Yeah, how's he doing, nano?" Kurumi echoed.

"Well, thanks to Ran's emergency treatment and a little extra help from within, he will make a full recovery. The other two are merely fatigued from both using up too much energy at once and from shock, but Nana will get better. I have a Yamanaka on the way to help her through the trauma." The beautiful Sannin announced to their relief.

"I didn't really...do much, Lady Tsunade." Ran said, dejected.

"On the contrary, my dear...It was you that kept him from bleeding out. Your healing was slowing down his blood loss long enough for me to get there. You are still young and will only continue to get better. Also, all of you girls worked well together against a highly dangerous opponent. Sasuke Uchiha is now in custody, pending a full Court Martial. He will not be getting off lightly." Tsunade added.

"What were those strange marks covering him? They felt...dirty and evil..." Kurumi asked, shivering at the memory.

"I can answer that. He has what's called a Curse Seal. It acts like a drug, giving the bearer incredible power, but at a price. My old teammate was the one that created these Seals, and he uses them to lure people to him for a taste of more power. The Uchiha craves power more than anything, and will do anything to get what he wants." A voice called out form the room's window.

"Jiraiya...How long have you been here?" Tsunade asked.

"Long enough, Hime. Nice job with Hatake's trial and with the council, but the Uchiha brat has gone too far." The Toad Sage stated, now noticing girls he's never seen before in the room.

"Who are you?" He asked curiously.

"Jiraiya...That is a story that only Naruto can tell you. Just take it from me that they can be trusted and that they actually saved his life tonight." Tsunade told him, getting him to back down.

"Well...um...Who are you, sir?" Tamami asked.

Jiraiya's face beamed.

"I am SO glad you asked! I am the Holy Sage of Mt. Myoboku! My name can hush a crying child, scare my enemies to death and give the ladies a thrill! I am none other tha...Ow! Hey Hime, leggo!" Jiraiya ranted, doing an odd little dance until Tsunade grabbed him by the ear.

"Honestly...Can't you be a little considerate for the patients in this hospital and in this room that are trying to rest?" Tsunade chided.

"Aw...I'm sorry." Jiraiya pouted as he rubbed his poor, abused ear.

"Allow me to introduce him..._Properly_. This is my old teammate Jiraiya. He is also Naruto's real sensei." Tsunade answered, turning back to him.

"Did you find out anything about what I asked?" She asked.

"Yeah...I hit the mother load, but I'll tell you later." He replied, turning his attention back to the situation at hand.

"If you want, I'll seal that Uchiha brat for you so he won't be a danger to anyone during his trial and so he can't escape." Jiraiya offered.

"That's a good idea. Thank you, Jiraiya." Tsunade thanked her old teammate.

"It's nothing, Hime. You saved my student's life...so we're even." Jiraiya replied with a grin as he left for the prison cell that held the treasonous Uchiha.

_**THE NEXT DAY...**_

Naruto was still unconscious from losing so much blood all at once. Not even the Kyuubi's chakra could heal such a wound so quickly, on top of going into shock. The girls hadn't left his bedside all night and had even fallen asleep there. During their slumber, a certain scroll began to shake and fell from Naruto's pouch, opening on it's own and began to glow...just like it did when the other girls came into their world.

A flash of blue light illuminated the room briefly as two figures emerged from the light. The first girl, around 16 years of age and with brown hair and wearing a beret that looked like a turtle's shell. The other girl was Naruto's age, with green eyes and long, golden blond hair which was tied back into a ponytail that looked like a fox's tail and her hair ribbon looked oddly like a fox's ears.

The new girls surrounded the bed, taking in the battered state of their wounded master with tears in their eyes, even more so when he opened his eyes slightly and moaned.

"UuUuuUhhHgggg...Where am I?" Naruto asked groggily as his world slowly came back into focus. He felt his chest and looked around wildly for the girls, due to the last thing he remembered was Sasuke trying to turn him into Shikabob a la Uzumaki. He found that the girls were safe. Mika and Nana were in beds next to his, but they seemed alright.

_'They're all safe. All eight of them...Holy Hell, eight? Since when?'_ Naruto thought incredulously.

The girls couldn't wait any longer, so they bum-rushed him.

"MASTER!" They both chorused as they all embraced him at the same time, tears of happiness flowing freely.

"Master, it's me, Ayumi the Turtle. Remember how you carried me around all the time?" She asked, a sad smile on her face. Those days where Naruto carried her to school on his head were precious to her and she wouldn't trade them for anything. The other girl stepped up to him and revealed her face.

"Master...Please remember me...It's me, Akane the Fox. I never forgot about you...I became an Angel, so that I could see you one more time." Akane told him in a trembling voice. She truly loved him, even though she was a vixen and he was human. But now that she was an Angel in human form AND his age...

"A-Akane? The fox I found near Hokage Mountain?" Naruto asked. Her death had affect him the worst, nearly turning him against his own village. For a Jinchuuriki, especially the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, to turn on their own village, it could prove deadly if Gaara was any indicator. And he was only the Ichibi.

He nearly flew out of the bed and hugged her tightly, not daring to let her go as she did the same. He was the human boy that she gave her heart to when she was still a vixen and she was the vixen that he secretly wished was human.

"It's you...I missed you, Akane-chan..." Naruto nearly sobbed as Akane hugged him tightly.

"Me too, master...I'll never leave your side again." Akane vowed.

The other girls had awoken to find that more Angels had come down to join them and explained that it was due to the events that happened the previous night. Akane and Ayumi were bristiling with rage at the mere mention of Sasuke Uchiha's name, which startled the other girls.

"What about him makes you so angry? I mean, we all dislike him, but why is it that you seem to want him destroyed?" Ran asked.

"It's because...He was one of the humans that killed me and took me away from Master. Him...and a feral looking boy with facial markings. I remember that his name was Kiba." The Fox girl spat out.

The memory was still firmly etched into Naruto's mind, as well. He felt himself growing angrier and angrier as the horrific events of that night played out in his head.

"I haven't forgiven them...Even to this day." Naruto growled.

"He also killed me...He threw me to the ground to try and kill me, but my hard shell prevented it. He wasn't satisfied...so he crushed me under foot. The last things I saw were Master's heartbroken look and the cheering of a girl with pink hair along with that dreadful boy." Ayumi told them, her voice hard as steel.

Even though they didn't know of Kiba, the other girls that knew Sakura knew EXACTLY who she was talking about.

"So...She's not only a vicious tramp, but also an accomplice to murder. I didn't kick her ass hard enough..." Tsubasa snarled, the rest in complete agreement.

The door opened suddenly to reveal and older man with long light blond hair and a green vest who walked in.

"Lady Tsunade told me that there was somebody here that needed my services?" He asked.

"Who are you?" Tsubasa asked, she and Akane getting in front of Nana's bed.

"Take it easy, girls. I'm Inoichi Yamanaka, a mental therapist. I understand that the young one in the bed had quite a traumatic experience last night. Lady Tsunade briefed me about what happened and she asked me to come in and counsel her through it and if necessary, seal off the memory to help her cope." Inoichi explained.

After hearing that he was here to help, the girls backed down and let him in. He did what a doctor whould normally do, like take her pulse and check to see if her eyes would dialate before he put a sleep jutsu on her to make sure she would wake up with him still inside.

"What was that for?" Akane asked, her tone hostile since she didn't trust humans.

"I just needed to make sure she wouldn't wake up in the middle of what I'm about to do. I need to jump into her memories to see what happened and if she woke up with me still in there, our minds would merge. My body would remain a vegetable while she would walk around with me within her for the rest of our lives. What she has seen will be used as evidence against the one that attacked you. She will be fine, I assure you." The Mind-Jumper coaxed.

"Easy, Akane-chan...He's a nice human like master and he's trying to help." Ran eased, getting her to back off.

Inoichi took her backing down as his cue to get started, flipping through a series of seals.

"Okay, little one...Let's see just what happened last night..." He said aloud as he touched her forehead gently, jumping into her mind.

_**ANBU HQ...**_

Jiraiya was getting ready to check in with the Security Desk and get admitted past the guards when he was accosted by a distraught Sakura, who was yelling at the ANBU gurads to let her in.

"Jiraiya-sama! Please! Help me get in to see Sasuke-kun! I know he couldn't have done all of those awful things that we was accused of! Naruto's just being a loser!" Sakura pleaded and cried.

Jiraiya wasn't the least bit amused by how shamefully the girl was acting and sickened by how delusional she was being.

_'This is starting to make me feel sick...Fangirls are like a blight to our shinobi ranks.'_ Jiraiya thought as he narrowed his eyes.

"Why should I? I'm here to seal that little basket case's chakra so he won't be a threat when he stands trial." He told her gruffly as the guards let him in without a problem.

"WHY? Sasuke-kun doesn't deserve to be locked up! He needs you to train him, not that idiot Naruto!" Sakura yelled, making the Sage turn to face her.

"And why should I do that? Are you gonna make me? Oooh...I'm so scared!" Jiraiya mocked her with a laugh.

"I'll tell my father on you! He's on the council and he'll have you arrested! Then he'll force you to train Sasuke-kun and make that bitch of a Hokage train ME instead of the red haired slut!" Sakura blurted out.

"You think that your daddy can make me do whatever he wants? Girl, you ARE delusional if you think a mere civilian can make ME do what he wants. Also, who I teach is of no concern to an Academy Student or civilians, least of all a complete joke like you or a pompous ass like your father. Get out of here before I put you in a cell, too, for implying treason against the Hokage." The Toad Sage told her with a stone cold voice. He looked to one of the guards.

"Get her out of here. She doesn't belong here with the REAL ninjas, anyway." Jiraiya ordered, on nearest masked nin grabbing her arm roughly and dragging her out, the she-banshee screaming the whole way.

"Okay...Time to get to work..." Jiraiya muttered, cracking his knuckles as he made his way down to Sasuke's cell.

Sasuke Uchiha sat in his cell, bound in chakra absorbent manacles, sulking in a corner of his cell as he heard someone approach. Since he had been in jail, he had been visited by many of those on the council, who had been promising to set him free. As soon as he saw Jiraiya walk into his cell, a smug grin appeared on his face.

"So, they managed to spring me and even got one of the Sannin to train me? It's about time. Free me quickly and let's go. We have training to do." Sasuke commanded.

Jiraiya and the two ANBU simply looked at each other and laughed aloud, greatly disturbing the wannabe avenger.

"What's so funny?" Sasuke demanded to know.

"Kid...I'm not here to free you OR train you. I'm just here to apply seals to keep you under control until your trial tomorrow." Jiraiya answered, still chuckling slightly.

"WHAT? I need training to kill my brother! This village owes me! They can't put ME on trial! I am an Uchiha! An Uchiha IS the law!" Sasuke screamed as he tried to make a break for it once he was freed from his manacles so that he could be sealed, but Jiraiya was expecting this and punched him in the stomach and knocking him out.

"Stupid little bastard...That's not gonna look good in court." Jiraiya mumbled as he began the sealing process and he even cordoned off the Curse Seal so that he couldn't use it to overpower the physical and chakra restriction seals and the bloodline seal. The whole process took just under two hours, but when Sasuke woke up and tried to channel his chakra, he got the shock of his life when he couldn't activate the Curse Seal or his Sharingan.

"W-what did you do to me?" He asked, panic and fear in his voice.

"I sealed you up so that we can proceed with the trial tomorrow." Jiraiya told him plainly.

"For what? That Dobe was only a nuisance and people would have THANKED me for killing him!" Sasuke screamed at the Sannin.

"Murder is murder, Uchiha-san. You were lucky that your arresting officer, Anko Mitarashi, didn't kill you on the spot as was within her authority." A monkey-masked ANBU stated, shoving Sasuke back into his cell.

"Keep him sedated until I come to pick him up for the trial tomorrow and make sure that his little escape attempt finds its way into his conduct file. This issue will be addressed." The Sage instrcuted the guards as he left, who nodded in acknowledgement before carrying out their assigned tasks.

_'This is gonna knock over the hornet's nest once the news gets out...Hime's gonna have a rough time with the council, as if their backstabbing isn't bad enough. Still, that little punk chose the wrong target...my Godson. He even thought he'd get away with nearly murdering a fellow shinobi. I hope he'll rot in jail...He's becoming too much like Orochimaru and I'll be damned if another one like him arises.'_ Jiraiya thought as he walked back up to the main area of ANBU HQ, heading out to inform Tsunade that Sasuke Uchiha was prepped for trial.

_**HARUNO HOME...**_

Sakura walked into her family's house in a huff and sought out her father. She was outraged by the fact that she wasn't authorized to see her crush in jail and that one of the Sannin had her escorted out of the building. She was determined to get even with him and everyone that stood in her way.

"Daddy! Where are you?" Sakura bellowed into the long hallway.

"Sakura? What is it and why are you shouting?" Kimi Haruno, her mother, replied.

"I wasn't talking to _you_! I want daddy!" Sakura sneered at her mother, making her cringe.

Kimi honestly loved her daughter and tried to steer her in the right direction. She missed the sweet little girl she used to be, before her obsession with the last Uchiha began and her husband only fanned the flames. She was also one of the people that knew the Yondaime personally, along with a small handful of people that knew Kushina was the previous Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi so she knew that he wasn't the demon he contained, and she tried to honor his request to treat Naruto as a hero. She tried to get Sakura to at least be civil toward him since he seemed like a generally nice boy, but her husband was set against it.

Atsugi Haruno fell in with the rest of the village's madness with their groundless hatred, dragging their daughter down with him and using his inheirited position on the Civilian, he did everything in his power to make the young Jinchuuriki miserable. As soon as he found out that his daughter was in the same class as Naruto, he told her to make him suffer as much as she could and to keep chasing the Uchiha heir to secure an Uchiha child to solidify his political standing within the council.

Kimi and her husband got into a heated argument the night this all started with Kimi yelling at him to leave Naruto alone and to keep their daughter out of his selfish ambitions, but she was silenced with a slap to the face. He told her to remember her place if she wanted to keep seeing _his_ daughter and if she lashed out again, he would deal with her in a harsh manner. For years, she kept her silence, but was torn apart inside over what her daughter had become, an insensitive, ego-maniacal, abusive person that would hurt even those that helped and protected her, like Naruto has done time and again, and the life Naruto had been subjected to. She knew that he kept all sorts of pets and was the one that gave him a baby turtle at the Kyuubi festival that he snuck into, to ease his loneliness.

Sakura shoved her way past her mother and barged into her father's office, where she interrupted a _business deal_ with his secretary and the two scrambled for their clothes. She didn't seem to care as she marched right up to him.

"Sasuke-kun's been thrown in jail! Some idiot named Jiraiya sealed him up and now he's going to prison! Do something, daddy!" Sakura wailed.

"What? How did this happen?" Atsugi yelled.

"Something that baka Naruto did made Sasuke-kun mad and Sasuke-kun beat him up, but he got arrested for it!" The bit...Sakura answered.

"I don't think so...Akemi! Alert the rest of the council and tell them to meet me at the Hokage's office! We'll show her just WHO runs this village!" Atsugi commanded.

"Yes, Haruno-sama!" The young woman replied, slipping her skirt back on and running out the door.

_**BACK AT KONOHA HOSPITAL...**_

Inoichi had just finished his dive into Nana's mind and retrieved all of the evidence that he needed to convict Sasuke with Attempted and Pre-Meditated Murder of a fellow Konoha shinobi, but he saw some other thungs in her mind, like when she was in Heaven with the Goddess, and of the time she was a puppy and lived with Naruto. He decided to keep it all to himself until he could talk with Lady Tsunade in private later, but he did as he said he would and helped Nana overcome the shock of seeing her master nearly dying in front of her, trying to protect her.

"Okay...Here we go. Upsy daisy." Inoichi coaxed the puppy girl as he released the sleep jutsu and helped her sit up. He was used to dealing with girls, seeing as he had a daughter of his own, so this made dealing with Nana that much easier.

"Aya? Is master...gonna be okay?" Nana asked.

"Yes. Naruto is fine and he woke up earlier this morning. Now, remember that this is in no way your fault. The one who attacked you was at fault and he cared enough to protect you. Just remember that fact and everything will be fine." Inoichi soothed the girl as he stood up to leave, but was stopped by Akane.

"T-thank you...For helping her, I mean." The fox girl said, averting her eyes.

"You're welcome. Now, I must be on my way to present what happened last night to Lady Tsunade. Good day to you all." He called out as he left the room.

"Are you sure you're okay? He didn't do anything to you, did he?" Akane asked Nana.

"Yeah! He was a nice human and he's a daddy, too! His daughter looks just like he does!" Nana chirped.

"Wait...His last name was Yamanaka? That's was Ino-san's father!" Ran exclaimed.

"Really? I'm going to have to visit Ino really soon and thank them for this." Mika mused, Tsubasa agreeing.

"Yeah! We really owe them one!" Tsubasa added.

The girls had found a friendly shinobi family to ally themselves with, with maybe more still. Things were looking to get better, after all.

_**HOKAGE TOWER**_

Tsunade looking out of her window and over the village below her, still thinking about how to deal with the council when the problem reared it's ugly head as the Elder Council and Civilian Council all barged into her office, looks of outrage on their faces.

"Tsunade! We have been informed that Sasuke Uchiha has been unlawfully imprisoned and sealed by YOUR teammate! We demand that you set him loose this instant!" Koharu proclaimed.

"Who told you this?" Tsunade asked, her eyes narrowed.

"I bet that little Haruno tramp told her father and he told everyone else." A voice from the window said. The owner of he voice was none other than Jiraiya, who had just arrived from performing the sealing. He turned his head so that he could stare down the council.

"I sealed that little brat and his bloodline because he was a threat to everyone around him, a loose cannon. He tried to commit murder, but was caught red handed by a member of our I and T Division and he wsa arrested. When I tried to apply the seals, he attempted to escape from the ANBU lock up. If you have a problem with that, too bad. There are laws for a reason and your days of casually bending them are over." Jiraiya told them boldly, crossing his arms defiantly.

"Enough of this non-sense, Tsunade! We have voted and it is unanimous that Sasuke Uchiha be released this instant to resume his training!" Danzo ordered.

"Are we trying to order the Hokage around? That may have worked on sensei, but it won't work on ME. I am not scared of you, nor am I afraid of taking drastic measures to ensure that you are sufficiently brought to heel. My sensei was a forgiving man, but I am very different from him. I do not make idle threats." Tsunade promised.

"Are you trying to undermine the authority of the council?" Atsugi Haruno demanded to know.

"We didn't undermine anything. Sasuke Uchiha attacked civilians without cause and nearly killed a fellow shinobi that tried to stop him. You should be thankful that Anko remembered her duty, or there wouldn't be any Uchiha left for you to kiss up to." Jiraiya spoke out.

"The Snake Wench? We should have stripped her of her shinobi status a long time ago, but that fool Sarutobi prevented that." Danzo spat.

"Anko is a loyal kunoichi who has laid her life on the line many times for our village, as well as rooting out several spies. You won't be calling her into question." Tsunade stated.

"Wait a moment...Who is the one that was attacked?" Danzo asked, his remaining good eye narrowing in suspicion.

"A group of girls that had recently come to the village had been attacked, but one Naruto Uzumaki saved their lives by taking a Chidori, an assassination jutsu, through the chest. He barely staved off death and is now recovering under ANBU guard in a private location. The girls in question are under my personal protection and are off limits to you." Tsunade answered coolly.

"I get it. Since it was your favorite that was attacked, you did this out of spite!" Koharu accused.

"I did nothing that I wouldn't do to any other criminal and Naruto risked his life for theirs in an act of courage. The trial will proceed as planned. Now, I have other business to attend to so leave my office immeadiately." Tsunade ordered.

"We won't forget this...this outrage! Rest assured of that!" Koharu threatened.

"Are we planning something against the Hokage?" Jiraiya inquired, his body tensing to strike at a moment's notice.

"N-No! Nothing like that!" Homura answered hastily.

"Then GET OUT!" Tsunade shouted, making them cower and flee.

"Uughhh...How could sensei have let things get so bad?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya, sinking into her chair.

"I don't really know, Hime. I don't suppose we'll ever know, but have taken the first steps to fixing his mistakes. I just hope that we can keep tabs on them enough to prevent them from stabbing us in the back." Jiraiya tried to reassure his old teammate, but even he was skeptical at best.

There was a knock at the office door suddenly.

"Enter!" Tsunade ordered, her tone tired and worn.

"It's me, Lady Tsunade. I have the results of the mind dive on the girl." Inoichi announced.

"Finally...I hope that the evidence is conclusive." The tired Hokage sighed.

"It seems as though the girl saw EVERYTHING and it's all admissible as evidence." Inoichi told her.

"Good. Write out a full report of your findings and submit it to me within the hour." Tsunade informed him.

"At once, Lady Tsunade." The Mind Jumper replied as he sped off to compile his findings into a full report. Given how cut and dried the evidence was, this wouldn't take long.

"Now that we're alone, tell me what you found out." Tsunade asked of her old teammate.

"I found out that there are more people out there that are searching for the Jinchuuriki other than the Akatsuki. Nearly all that have met them has been either hacked to death, stabbed to death, or ripped to shreds. They were last seen headed for Rain Country carrying a large egg-like stone with them and that was where my contacts lost them, however we do know that they are actively hunting the Jinchuuriki." Jiraiya told her gravely.

Tsunade shakily took out one of her hidden sake bottles and took a sip to calm her nerves.

"A new group hunting those like Naru-chan down? Over my dead body." Tsunade growled. If they ever came to Konoha looking for him, she'd show them what she thought of their plans personally.

"These three are dangerous. Some of those killed were Jounin level and looked like they had been fed into a shredder. I have descriptions of them, along with candid pictures that at least show what they look like. We could put them into the Bingo Book as A-Rank threats." Jiraiya offered.

"Take that intel to the ANBU HQ and tell them to get cracking on it. If they come for him, I'd like some advanced warning. At that is done, let's get ready for the trial. I want it to be a full military panel, since this is a shinobi matter. I want Shikaku Nara, Ibiki Morino, and Inoichi Yamanaka to join the panel with me, the recent Genin as a jury of his peers. That should keep those sycophants on the council from crying foul." Tsunade stated as Inoichi came back into the office, his full report in hand along with Sasuke's psychoanalysis records.

"Lady Tsunade, I have the full report along with the Uchiha's Psych evals for the past few years. It seems as if mental help has been readily availiable, he has refused it at every turn. Every time that this issue has come up, the council glossed over it. This negligence, coupled with his unauthorized encounter with Itachi, has all but destroyed his mind." Inoichi stated.

Tsunade ran her fingers through hair. Her sensei had allowed a mentally unstable shinobi to run around? What on earth was he thinking?

"Present this as an opening argument and we'll work from there." Tsunade told him.

Inoichi nodded and turned to leave, but he remembered what he wanted to talk with her about.

"Lady Tsunade...One more thing. That girl...I saw some strange things in her memories but I wanted to tell you before anything else. Apparently, those girls with Naruto aren't human. They were all once pets that Naruto once had, but they transmigrated after their death into spiritual beings of some kind." Inoichi explained.

"Are you serious, Inoichi? Are you sure you didn't look into a daydream that the little one was having or anything?" Jiraiya chuckled, but his chuckle was cut short by the serious look on Tsunade's face. She flashed through a series of seals without a word and activated the office's slience barrier.

"Hime? What's wrong?" Jiraiya asked, gravely concerned by her actions.

"What you saw was no day dream. You saw what those girls really are..." Tsunade told the two of them about everything except about the Garden. It was a bond of trust between her and Naruto and she wouldn't trade that for anything. It was better to tell Inoichi the truth before he drew his own conclusions and Jiraiya would find something out eventually due to how much he was around Naruto on top of being the boy's Godfather. He needed to know.

Tsunade wound down the tale with a sigh. She knew she could trust them, but she needed to reinforce the the fact that this information was to remain a secret and her telling them was a one time thing.

"That boy has suffered more than anyone else I've ever seen or heard of and he for the love of Kami he still has the capacity to love. If this information gets out, the council stop at nothing to target those girls. Orochimaru will try to kidnap them to experiment with them. I'll personally kill anyone that endangers them..._**ANYONE**_." The blond Sannin vowed, her Ki becoming stifling.

"Hime...There was no need to threaten us. If this makes the kid that happy, then it can't be a bad thing. Like you said, that kid's suffered enough and this was probably Kami's way of making things up to him." Jiraiya replied.

"I agree with him. I think we should just leave him alone and keep this a secret. My time in that girl Nana's head tells me that as long as we leave him alone, they'll be fine." Inoichi agreed.

"Good. Let's keep things this way. Now...I believe we all have business to take care of." The beautiful Sannin said as they split up for the day.

_**NEAR THE BORDER OF AMEGAKURE...**_

A familiar trio had just finished off a patrol of Ame-nin and had set their cargo down near a hill just outside of the Rain village.

"What are we doing here in THIS Kami forsaken place?" Gai of the Byakko complained.

"Yes...I was wondering the same thing, brother. That...and why we had to lug Big Brother's stone all the way here from Fire Country." Rei of the Suzaku added in an annoyed tone.

Shin of the Genbu sighed at how his little brothers were whining.

"We needed to bring him here to awaken him. There is a strong spiritual presence here that can aid us in raising him from his sleep." Shin explained.

"Oh...We forgot." The other two shrugged as they put the stone down, all of them getting into a circle around it.

"Hear our call...Seiryuu the Blue Dragon! Awaken from your slumber so that we might regain our powers and get the revenge on the humans that we have waited for since eons long forgotten!" Shin chanted, the egg-like rock giving off an eerie blue light as the very earth began to rumble.

It cracked and opened, a supernatural power flowing out of it in the shape of a spectral blue dragon that was ascending towards the heavens. It came crashing back down, a blinging light flashing from it's point of impact and left a massive 30 ft. crater behind. In the middle of the crater stood a tall man, well muscled and dressed in a blue robe. He had pitch black hair and peculiar eyes, one was crimson red and the other was crystal blue.

"The time has come...For us to take charge again, my brothers." The man said.

"Big brother Gou..." Gai trembled as he and the rest of his brothers bowed down to their eldest brother.

"We must being our hunt for the nine Bijuu immeadiately." Gou ordered.

"My brother...We have an obstacle in our way. An organization of shinobi called the Akatsuki have been actively hunting the Bijuu, as well." Shin informed.

"Really? What are their motives for doing so?" Gou asked.

"That is unknown, but their search carries on as we speak but we have managed to gain information on it's members. They are all extremely powerful shinobi and work in pairs. The closest at hand is the Kyuubi, but it is sealed within a vessel." Rei told him.

"Oh? A jinchuuriki? These blasphemous humans know no shame...thinking they can harness a demon's power." Gou snarled before regarding his brothers again.

"Where is the Kyuubi vessel located?" He demanded.

"In Fire Country, a shinobi village called Konohagakure. The vessel's name is Naruto Uzumaki, a shinobi of that village. It seems as though ALL of the Bijuu are contained within vessels. This boy is one, there is another in Wind Country, two in Water, two in Earth, two in Lightning, and the last is in Waterfall." Shin informed his leader and eldest brother of all of the intel he could gather.

"Of all the arrogant...Come. We head for Fire Country first." Gou ordered, his cloak billowing behind him. His brothers simply fell in behind him, not even daring to question his command.

From a few yards away, a figure rose out of the ground like some kind of demonic looking flower. The figure wore a black cloak with red clouds and what appeared to be a venus fly trap rising out of the collar, the face split between a white half and a black half.

_**"This is interesting..."**_ Black half mused.

_"Indeed...We must inform Lord Pein of this development."_ White half agreed as it slunk back into the ground to inform it's master.

_A/N: Chapter five is now up and ready! Whew...All of this legal talk and now two more angels...including the main girl in this fic, Akane! We also see more of the Saint Beasts, along with a newly reawakened Gou. On top of that, Zetsu spotted them and is now informing the rest of the Akatsuki. A showdown between them and the Saint Beasts is inevitable!_

_Also, I again used the Kido Spells form Bleach, since they both use the same power source, Spirit Energy._


	6. Chapter 6

_Whew! Sorry this took so long to write, but I've been really busy with other things and this chapter was a bit tricky for me to write. Anyway, as per usual, if you want a recap, go back a few chapters to catch up before you read this._

_**UNKNOWN LOCATION...**_

_**"Are you certain, Zetsu?"**_ Pein asked of his spy.

_**"Yes, Lord Pein..."**_ Black Half answered.

_"We have confirmed that their targets are indeed the Jinchuuriki and that they are headed for Fire Country right now."_ White Half finished.

_**"What more do you know of them? Are they shinobi?"**_ The Akatsuki leader inquired further.

_**"We do not think so but..."**_

_"They are still very powerful. The one in blue seems to be the leader and the strongest."_

_**"They derive their monikers from the four Guardian Spirits."**_

Pein mulled this thought around in his head for a moment, thinking of what to do. Finally, he answered his spy.

_**"Go to Fire Country and find Kisame and Itachi. Tell them to intercept these so-called Saint Beasts and find out what they really want with the Bijuu. I will be sending Deidara and Sasori to back them up in case they are hostile. Go quickly and do not fail me."**_ Pein commanded as Zetsu sunk into the ground in a hurry to carry out the orders given.

_**"Just who are these Saint Beasts and what do they hope to accomplish?"**_ Pein asked himself aloud.

_**ONE WEEK LATER**_

It's been a very long week since the attack and things had yet to fully calm down within the village. Not even the girls were able to go out in public all that often due to the fact that they lived with Naruto, but Naruto was the public's main target for their outrage. For a while now, anyone that Sasuke had wronged, the Civilian Council would threaten them to keep silent while Sarutobi was nearly powerless to do anything about it. The last person to publicly do so was blacklisted by nearly every business in the village and was currently homeless due to the realty office kicking him and his family out of their home by claim. They now currently live in the slums not too far from his apartment under a tarp, where they've been for the past three years. They were made an example of those who chose to defy the council and their whims.

Now, the Hokage herself was challenging the council and used a lot more force than Sarutobi did. Tsunade was imfamous for her temper and it was showing in her inter-village political dealings. The civilian society was closing ranks on Naruto and his friends quickly, denying them access in to any grocery store or stall in retaliation for their precious Uchiha being thrown in jail. Tsunade came over to his house to visit and noticed that the pantry was barren so she asked what was wrong. Tamami informed her of what had been happening in the village and she decided to go with them under a henge of Naruto.

They came up to the first store, where the owner tried to chase them out with a meat cleaver but Tsunade/Naruto wouldn't budge. The owner screamed until he was blue in the face at her, stirring up a scene that involved several sneering people, some with crude weapons like pipes and kitchen knives. They were all shouting out that he should have let the Uchiha kill him and the girls, let him have what he wanted. She told them to fuck off.

One villager grew gutsy enough to try to "_slay_ the demon", taking a slash at her with a carving knife. She responded by nearly sending him into the next zip code and proceeded to lay waste to the store, leaving nothing standing. When they villagers were ready to attack the girls, too, she released the Henge and revealed herself to the public, making them cower away from her and babble out apologies.

_"W-we're sorry, Lady Tsunade! We didn't know it was you!" _They pleaded.

Their pleas only served to further arouse her anger, though.

_"Stow it! Your apologies are wasted on the wrong person, you grovling swine! That boy saved MY life and all of yours, as well! I will NOT hear of any of you trying to make his life harder than it already is, or there will be consequences!"_ She told them outright.

After that incident, the villagers were reigned in and at least turned a blind eye to his presence. He was being ignored, but it was far better than what was going on before. Now, ever since Sasuke got thrown in the slammer for his unprovoked assualt and attempted murder, the council had been haggling away and trying to push the trial date back. It worked...for a few days, but after the fourth day, Tsunade finally had enough and threw them, physically, out of her office.

_"The brat goes on trial in two days time! No more of your bullshit stalling!" _She yelled at them from her door before she slammed it shut.

_**KONOHA COURTROOM**_

It was a packed house for the Court Marshal of Sasuke Uchiha. Many shinobi had turned out to see that last scion of the Uchiha family be brought to justice for attacking a group of girls that were the Hokage's guests, but what spun them for a loop was the fact that the Kyuubi child came to their rescue and held the Uchiha off long enough for the ANBU to arrive and apprehend him. Their opinion of Naruto went up a few notches when they heard that he took a lethal jutsu through the chest for one of the girls. They figured that if he was willing to give up his life to protect them, he wasn't as bad as they thought he was.

On the civilian side, however, was a vastly different story, although there were some that had a change of heart and did a little soul searching once they heard the news. The fact that he was willing to throw his life away to protect those innocent girls by being impaled through his chest by an infamous lethal jutsu had a habit of winning a few hearts and minds. then, there was the release of who REALLY defeated the Suna Jinchuuriki, their own container did. He fought Gaara blow for blow and even summoned a creature they hadn't seen since the Yondaime was alive, the mighty Gamabunta. If he summoned Gamabunta, the only way for that to happen, was if he was trained by Jiraiya himself and he entrusted the Toad contract to the boy.

The rest were your classic psychos, maniacs, and screaming sycophants that were out for blood. Sasuke even had some greasy lawyer that the council had sprung for to defend him and even Tsunade couldn't deny him legal council. The man, Kishi Tadakoro, gave the council a cocky thumbs up as he faced the panel.

Sakura was sitting with the rest of the of the civilians, awaiting the fate of her beloved Sasuke while her mother sat on the other side, her husband sneering at her.

_'I'll see to her later...'_ Atsugi Haruno growled as he tried to take a seat on the panel, only to be shoved away by Ibiki Morino.

"You common dog! Know your place!" He snarled at the interrogator, which proved to be a horrible idea. You don't sneer at the Boogieman of Konoha while he's on duty and get away with it. He lifted the smaller man up by his collar until their eyes met. His dark stare chilled the arrogant councilman to the very marrow.

"This is a military Court Marital. You and the rest of the Civilian Council have no place here. Now _**leave**_." Ibiki replied, his tone murderous and calm with enough Ki to scare the Shinigami. He tossed the man aside and continued to take his place on the panel, with Inoichi, the Psycho-Analyist and Shikaku, the Jounin Commander, following behind, all of them shoving him aside.

"What is the meaning of this?" Homura bellowed but was silenced by an ANBU.

"Take you seats in the gallery. This trial is outside of your authority." The Cat masked ANBU said calmly as she took her position again.

Finally, it was time to begin as Shizune walked through the doors.

"All rise for the Honorable Hokage, Lady Tsunade Senju." She ordered as Tsunade herself walked through the doors and took her place on the panel.

"Be seated." She instructed.

"Bailiff, please bring in the accused." Tsunade commanded. At her beckoning, the bailiff, Asuma Sarutobi, escorted the young man into the courtroom. Once he had Sasuke situated on the stand, he took his post as the Court Marshal got under way.

_**NORTHWESTERN FIRE COUNTRY BORDERS**_

"Finally...We're here in Fire Country." Rei grumbled.

"I know...I'm starving..." Gai whined.

"Will you two pull yourselves together, already? Geez..." Shin admonished, but it was already enough to incite Gou's wrath.

"Enough of your weak chatter! We come here for one purpose only!" Gou bellowed at his brothers, but another voice cut in.

"And what purpose would that be?" The voice, Itachi Uchiha, inquired tonelessly.

"So...These guys are the ones ripping up our informants and anyone in their way, eh? You don't look too tough to me." Kisame commented, Samehada resting on his shoulder and ready to use it if he had to.

The Saint Beasts took a good look at the ones confronting them.

"Black cloaks with red clouds...You must be members of the Akatsuki. You will not stop us from regaining our former powers as the Gods of all Animals. Once we have all of the Bijuu, we will rid the world of you human filth and return it to it's full splendor once again." Gou demanded.

"Fool...We will not hand over that which we desire so easily." Itachi answered coldly.

"Yeah...Alright! I was itching for a fight!" Kisame laughed as he readied his Samehada to rip these pretty boys to shreds.

In a near eyeblink, Gai had closed the distance on Itachi, slashing at him with his claws. Thanks to the Mangekyou, Itachi easily evaded it and kicked him aside when Shin followed up with his Genbu Shard attack. A quick Kawarimi saw to his safety as he backed off to gauge his opponents a bit more.

Rei lept high into the air and came down with blinding speed and crushing force with his taloned feet, but was held at bay by the Monster of the Mist and his massive sword, then batted aside but had to contend with Gou and his immense physical power. Kisame was quick with a Suiton jutsu to slow the raging Gou down and once they were distracted, he made a Mizu Bunshin to help even the odds. Kisame swung his blade down to crush the stunned Gou, but he caught it with his bare hands and was starting to overwhelm _him_, but he had something planned for him. He quickly and forcefully yanked the Samehada out of his grip, shredding the flesh of Gou's hands.

"AAGGHH! You..._miserable HUMANS!_ I'll kill you ALL!" The angry Seiryuu bellowed in rage but before he could crush Kisame into chum, an explosion went off between them.

Decsending onto the battlefield was Deidara, atop on of his clay bird with Sasori hopping off as well.

"Having trouble, un?" Deidara quipped.

"Deidara...Stop fooling around and let us take care of these fools." Sasori crackled out as his puppet body touched down, it's deadly scorpion tail raised.

"More...of you human _**filth!**_ I'll eradicate you all! Brothers! Kill them all!" Gou shouted to his bretheren who answered the call.

Gai lept in to engage Sasori while Shin tangled with Deidara. Itachi was now facing Gou and Kisame now faced Rei again. Gai first attempted to claw his way into what he believed was the real body, but the tail was lightning quick and grazed his neck. After a few moments passed, he felt the effects of the deadly venom which slowed him down and was beginning to impair his vision. The Byakko held off the effects of the poison as long as he could while he lept in again and again, scoring more damage on the body of his opponent until it had to back off.

Shin launched salvo after salvo of his Genbu shards at the Mad Bomber of Iwa, only to hit clay clones that would explode, further obscuring his vision. Through the dust and smoke, a small army of clay spiders came crawling out, a few of them landing on Shin's sleeve and detonating, imparing the usage of his left arm. However, he fought through the pain and fired off another well aimed salvo that hit the real Deidara, forcing the two to a stand still.

Rei was currently flapping above his opponent, trying to find a way past that wicked sword he wielded while Kisame was tired of wasting his chakra on trying to shoot the bird man out of the sky because he was too fast to get a clean shot. Finally getting fed up with doing nothing but dodging, Rei swooped in from above again, but halted at the last moment, throwing off Kisame's timing and scoring a hit. It was a deep goring wound in the shark man's shoulder but he responded by shaving a few layers of flesh from Rei's right leg.

Gou was charging in like a raging bull, a very fast raging bull that Itachi was having a hard enough time trying to continually dodge while trying to mount a counter attack. He wanted to reserve his Sharingan jutsu for a dire emergency and not waste them, so he was stuck trying to wear him down with minor wounds caused by various thrown weapons and smaller jutsu, like the Housenka, peppering him with fireballs while on the move. Finally, he felt that his opponent was weakened enough to attempt the Tsukuyomi. He made eye contact and felt the pull...But nothing happened!

_'Impossible! The Tsukuyomi had no effect on him! We underestimated them...'_ He thought as he tried to come up with a plan.

Itachi looked around at his fellow members and saw that they all had wounds of varying degrees and their foes, despite being wounded as well, showed no signs of tiring anytime soon. He motioned to Deidara for a quick escape. He got the message and pulled out a large chunk of clay while Itachi, Sasori, and Kisame kept the rest busy. After a moment, Deidara had enough time to craft a larger than usual clay owl, but they still needed a distraction. Itachi had just the jutsu for the job.

_**AMATERASU!**_

The Black Flames roared to life between them and their pursuers, halting their progress.

"C'mon! They're getting away!" Gai cried as he attempted to continue the pursuit, but Gou held him by the collar.

"Those flames are not normal. They would have burned you to a cinder. There will be other chances to kill them them, but in the meantime, we must change our target since he is...guarded quite heavily..." He commented as he turned to Shin.

"Where is the next Bijuu located?" Gou asked.

"Hmm...The nearest ones are located to the North...In Earth Country. They are the Four and Five Tailed spirits respectively." He replied after consulting his map.

"Okay then. After we recover from this battle, we set out for Earth, then." He commanded as they set out for a border town to find an inn.

Aboard Deidara's clay owl, the four members of Akatsuki took stock of the situation. They had badly underestimated their opponents and paid dearly for it, but managed to delay them somewhat.

"Leader won't be happy about this..." Deidara commented, pulling out the shards from his shoulder while the others simply nodded. They were headed back to the Akatsuki base to relay the news in person.

_**BACK IN KONOHA...**_

Sasuke had just finished delivering his statement, or more like his rantings and selfish justifications. The jury was far from happy with the panel thinking the same thing, that he was blatantly lying to them and was depending on his name to clear the charges. Tadakoro wasn't helping things along either, since the guy was about as charming as an eel as he stood to speak on his client's behalf and character.

"You see, Lady Hokage...Sasuke Uchiha is a model citizen who, in not way shape or form, deserves to be treated in such a manner. It is very clear that these girls are merely jilted fangirls that want some form of revenge against my client and they had contracted the help of the..._Uzumaki_, to help in an elaborate plot to frame him." He explained, the greasy smirk never leaving his face.

"Is that so?" Inoichi asked, his eyes narrowed with barely contained comtempt for this farce of a lawyer.

"Then, you won't mind if we bring in the victims of your client's attack, will you? After all, if he never did anything, then they won't have a mark to show for it, will they?" Inoichi said in a tone that told of his laothing of the man's oily demeanor.

They then called in the victims of the crime to show the severity of their wounds, along with the medical reports and the mental health report on Nana due to her case of mental trauma and shock. The real zinger came when Naruto was asked to remove his jacket to show the would that was left behind by the Chidori, which made many gasp. It was indeed luck that he was the vessel for the demon, because by all accounts he SHOULD have died that night. However, one juror had something else in mind.

_'Who's that hot blond girl with the dobe? I think I'll help myself after the trial...Not like the dobe's in any shape to do anything about it with the shape he's in.'_ Kiba thought, looking at Akane. Coincidentally, she caught sight of him and had to be held in place to keep from ripping him apart.

Tadakoro stood and delievered his assessment of the situation.

"This is preposterous! My client had nothing to do with these injuries! How do we know that he didn't inflict them on himself and those girls?" He accused.

"These medical reports don't lie, as well as accounts from the one that apprehended him, one Anko Mitarashi and ANBU team 4. On top of that, after Sasuke Uchiha had been taken into custody and placed in an ANBU cell, he tried to escape but was stopped by Jiraiya-sama when he was on his way to apply chakra restrictive seals on the Uchiha to prevent such a thing from happening. He has now proven himself to be a flight risk. Counselor Tadakoro, do you have anything to say to these facts, or will we have to go even further? You know there are penalties for lying to the jury and covering up the truth." Ibiki stated, his cold tone nearly making the corrupt legal counselor lose control of his bladder.

"N-No further questions, then..." He stammered.

"The court will have a ten minute recess in which to decide a verdict." Tsunade announced as she banged the Gavel down.

The court went into recess and the Civilian Council flooded the Defendant stand, hammering Tadakoro with questions.

"How could you let them do this?" Homura hissed.

"W-what was I supposed to do? That brat is guilty as sin and they know it! They have mental files, Psyche reports, medical reports from the Hokage herself and Kami only knows what else! I won't let you drag me down with him! If I get caught lying in a Military Tribunal, death is the best damn thing that'll happen to me!" He shot back, fear rampant in his beady eyes as the recess was called in.

Once everyone was settled in from the short recess, the trial was once again started, the jurors called back in to deliever their verdict.

"Please rise for the verdict." Ibiki called out.

Iruka, the Jury Foreman, stood up on cue.

"Lady Tsunade...We, the jury, have unanimously found Sasuke Uchiha guilty of 10 counts of assualt and 7 counts of attempted murder, as well as attempting to escape from his holding facility. We recommend the maximum sentence be placed upon him, to serve as a reminder that clan status is nothing in the eyes of the law." Iruka stated, his face a mask of stone.

The crowd sat in stunned silence over the results of the verdict. The Civvie Councilmembers were stewing in a silent rage over the result while the rest of their supporters were ready to riot. The rest had come to expect this turn of event. Sasuke had obviously and brazenly lied to them and had insulted their intelligence if he thought that they bought his line of crap. They knew that the penalty for such crimes would be very steep.

Sakura just wouldn't take no for an answer, though. She hopped over the railings and before the guards could catch her, she tried to plead with Naruto one last time before everyone.

"Please! Don't do this! I'll do anything you want! Anything you could think of...I'll even give my virginity to you! Just please don't send Sasuke-kun to jail!" She wailed as she tugged on his jacket and made a big production out of it, but Naruto was less than amused with how far she was taking this. He wrenched his jacket out of her hands and his face was filled with nothing but disgust and contempt. She had the nerve...the gall...to attempt to charm him after all she had done?

_'I don't FUCKING think so.'_ He mentally snarled.

"Why should I? That asshole tried to kill me and several innocent people that night and all you can think about is yourself? On top of all that, you think that offering yourself to me like some hooker will change my mind? Go away, damn you! You had your chance to be nice when all I did was give! I gave everything to you and Sasuke but what did I get? He nearly killed me and my friends and all you do is make things worse!" Naruto snarled at her, making her cringe back.

"Naruto! Please! I mean it! Do this for me? This one little thing?" She tried one more time, trying to play feelings for her that didn't exist anymore. This time the girls came back and Ayumi walked up.

"Is there a problem, Naruto-kun?" The brown haired turtle girl asked, she and Akane giving Sakura a glare that could melt steel.

"Yeah...This piece of garbage right here." Naruto replied, not removing his hard gaze off of the pink haired girl.

"What's THEIR problem?" Sakura huffed. The next action surprized them all...Akane quickly slugged her in the stomach and brought the harpy to her knees.

"That was for vengence...You helped to kill someone close to Naruto-kun and you had it coming. THAT is our problem." Akane snarled down at her.

"*Cough* Wh-what did I do? I-I didn't k-kill anybody!" She wheezed on her knees, prompting Ayumi to kneel down.

"Yes...You helped that Uchiha slime kill me all those years ago and now...I'm back." The turtle girl hissed in her ear as they walked away, leaving her there.

Kimi Haruno had been listening to the entire thing and was especially surprized to hear the last part. She walked around the railing and collected her daughter while her _husband_ was screaming bloody murder.

"YOU SEE? THESE ANIMALS JUST ATTACKED MY SWEET, INNOCENT DAUGHTER! THEY ARE THE GUILTY ONES...ESPECIALLY THIS LITTLE DEMON!" Atsugi screamed at the top of his lungs, pointing at Naruto.

Ki flared from all corners of the room and nearly gave the corrupted poilitician a coronary. His wife walked up to him and addressed him.

"You broke the Sandaime's Law. Atsugi Haruno...You are under arrest." She declared.

"You? HA! On who's authority? You're just a retired Chuunin! You don't have the authority to punish _me_, but just wait till we get home. I'll make sure you never step up to me again!" Atsugi snarled at his wife, raising his hand to smack her, but Naruto was there to catch it.

"You wanna hit someone? Try hittin' me! Kimi-san is one of the nice people who tried to help me and gave me a pet to ease my pain! I never forgot about what she did for me and I won't let an asshole like you hurt her!" Naruto yelled at him.

Atsugi responded by yanking out a knife he had hidden in his sleeve and going to try to kill Naruto, but one of the ANBU buried her kunai into his skull, carrying out his sentence on the spot and dragged his corpse away. The crowd looked on, aghast at what happened, but before they could react, Tsunade spoke out.

"He broke the Sandaime's Law. You all know the penalty for that and let this be a reminder to you all that I am through with playing games around here and certain people getting off light due to their clan names. I am NOTHING like Sarutobi-sensei and don't you forget it. This stops here and now. Sasuke Uchiha, you are hereby sentenced to life imprisonment into the Konoha Maximum Security Prison's Solitary Confinement Wing. You will have your chakra and Sharingan permanently sealed. You will never know the light of day again and hopefully we can forget you even existed. You have brought shame upon your ancestors with your traitorous actions and made a mockery of what it means to be a Konoha shinobi for the final time. We now wash our hands of you." Tsunade declared, daring the crowd to lash out in some manner.

Sasuke was completely stunned. He was to be thrown away, getting his ass kicked out of the world.

"But...But I'm...An Uchiha...I'm...Uchiha..." He kept babbling to himself as a pair of guards dragged his near comatose form out of his chair and out of the courtroom.

Naruto and the girls silently cheered that justice was carried out for what happened to them. Akane felt especially vindicated, since he was one of the two that murdered her when she was still a vixen. Ayumi also felt that her justice has finally come and her death at his hands had been avenged.

Instead of screaming chaos, the would be rioters simply shuffled out of the hall in a silent daze. Kimi Haruno was a little upset to see her husband dead, but with all that he had done to her, all of the physical and emotional abuse she had endured under him, she felt next to nothing but relief. She actually felt like she had been set free. Her daughter on the other hand, would have to be put under suicide watch and penciled in for a long overdue trip to the shrinks. She turned to Naruto momentarily.

"Naruto-chan...Don't feel bad for me. He is gone now and I can live with that. I also apologize for all that my daughter has put you through. Just take care of yourself and if you have any problems, you can always talk to me...Like we used to do when you were little." She told him kindly.

"Thank you...Kimi-chan...I'll have to do that no that he's gone and I can talk you you about stuff again." He replied with an honest smile as the woman easily lifted her daughter, who was light to an unhealthy degree.

"Then, why don't you and your friends come over with me? Sakura will be out for quite a while and won't bother you." She offered. He looked to Tsunade, who gave him a shooing gesture with a smile, so he agreed to it.

_**HARUNO RESIDENCE**_

Kimi was riddled the whole way there with questions about how such a sweet woman could have had such a rotten child. She was serving some tea while they all talked. It was a bit cramped in the house with all of them there, but it was still cozy enough and the questions kept coming.

"You're that banshee's mother? But...You're so nice!" Tsubasa exclaimed.

"Yeah...She really is, nano!" Kurumi agreed.

"No kidding. Her husband was a monster and her daughter was getting there. How did that family turn out so horribly?" Mika wondered.

"Mika! Have a little more tact!" Ayumi admonished.

"It's quite alright, Ayumi-chan. Well...As you know, my marriage wasn't a happy one. When I was sixteen, I was a Chuunin shinobi but my parents didn't agree with my choice of profession. They saw a chance to get me out of it plus themselves into a socially acceptible position when _he_ asked for my hand in marriage. I refused, since making Jounin like my idols Tsunade-sama and Kushina-sama was my goal, but they forced me into the marriage. After we were married and after I had Sakura, he had my chakra sealed up completely with the help of a few contacts on the council, since he didn't like the fact that I was so much stronger than him. After that, my life went on a downward spiral, especially after the Kyuubi attack." She told them, Naruto having a look of guilt on his face.

"It's not your fault, Naruto-chan. As a matter of fact, I knew your mother, since she WAS one of my idols." She told him with a smile.

"Really? You knew who she was? Can you tell me?" He asked eagerly. Seeing the near desperate look on his face, she couldn't say no.

"Yes...I can at least tell you that. Kushina-sama was your mother, Naruto-kun. She was one of the strongest people I've ever known and she was a match for even the Yondaime in strength. When she became pregnant with you and found that you were a boy, she was as giddy as a schoolgirl. She asked me if I would mind if she brought you over to play with Sakura when you were older...But the Kyuubi attack happened. At first, I thought you both died, but as soon as Sarutobi-sama announced your surname and I saw your face, I knew who's child you were. You were a cute baby, Naruto-chan." She said, teasing him a bit and making him blush before she continued.

"I...tried adopting you, but Atsugi was firmly against it. He said that it would ruin him politically and he wouldn't have it. A few years later, if you remember, I met you again when I picked up Sakura from school. Atsugi found out and...That was what started everything. He told her to hate you, but the Uchiha obsession was something different. He wanted to use her as a breeding tool and secure an Uchiha Grandchild to give himself a boost in status, no matter how young she was. When I think about it, I was married to a disgusting man, just as much of a blight to this family as the Uchiha was. Thankfully...They are both gone now, and we can begin to heal." She commented as she sipped her tea.

"So...Sakura-san was a victim in a sense, as well." Ran said, getting a nod from the woman.

"Yes...I suppose she is in a sense, as you say. You are a very smart girl, Ran. No wonder Lady Tsunade chose you over my daughter." Kimi replied with a sad smile.

"Why didn't you stick up for her?" Tsubasa asked, her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Just because she's my daughter, doesn't make everything she does faultless in my eyes. I do love her, but she has many faults, as do we all. To not see them is to be blind." She answered sagely.

"I think we should go home now. C'mon girls." Naruto said to them. He was much happier having found out about his mother at least. He was shown a picture of her and found her to be very beautiful, noticing that his face was just like hers.

"Will you come back and chat with me again, Naruto-chan? I can tell you more stories about your mother." Kimi offered.

" Of course I will! Thank's Kimi-chan!" Naruto replied happily as the group got a move on back to their house.

Along the way home, they realized they needed to go to the market for dinner that night, so Akane voluneered to go, since she could take care of herself to an extent.

"Akane-chan...Please be careful. If anybody tries anything, just run home and don't try to fight unless you have to." Naruto urged.

"I promise, Naruto-kun...I promise." She said as she left for the market, the rest of them heading home.

_**KONOHA STREETS**_

Akane was able to shop relatively un-accosted at the market due to most of the smaller stall owners having a change of heart, deciding to leave them alone and conduct honest business.

"Hmm...Udon or Katsudon..." She murmured as she rifled through the products, eventually picking one as she moved along to get the other things on the shopping list Ran gave her.

As she shopped, someone had followed her to the store and had been watching her since she left the trial.

"Man...She's a hottie...That dobe would never be able to make such a cutie happy, so I might as well help myself, right?" Kiba reasoned. His ninken, Akamaru, had a different perspective. He remembered her scent from over a year ago...But the owner of the scent was supposed to be dead.

Kiba had walked into the store, acting like he was shopping himself while keeping her in view and getting closer. He finally saw his chance to introduce himself and use his_ charms_.

"Hey there...I never noticed you around before. I know that I couldn't have missed such a pretty girl like you, so you must be new here." He declared.

"Yeah...I'm new here. So what?" She deadpanned without even looking at him.

"Well...Since you're new here and all, I should tell you about that guy you seem to hang around with." He told her with a bit of smugness in his voice.

"What about Naruto-kun?" She asked icily.

"Nothing much to tell, except that he's the dead last and a loser." He jeered.

Akane's hackles were rising quickly and she needed to ditch this ass before she blew her top.

"Leave me alone." She said with barely maintained calm, but he grabbed her arm to stop her.

"C'mon, what's the rush? Let's go get a bite to eat, my treat. If you're lucky, this'll be our first date, too." He crowed.

"Don't touch me!" She snarled as she jerked away from him harshly, but got a good look at the person bothering her...And she instantly backhanded him with all of her might and sent him to the ground in a heap as she stomped away, nearly having a meltdown on the spot.

"Wh-what the hell's your problem, bitch?" Kiba yelled, drawing many glares from other females that were shopping, too. He looked around and saw that she was cashing out and leaving the store, so he tore off after her.

After a few moments, he caught up with her just outside of a main street that she seemed to be headed to and cut her off from the entrance, pulling her back into the alley by roughly grabbing her arm and yanked on it.

"Slap me, huh? You little bitch...I'll teach you!" He yelled as he raised his hand to slap her, but she easily caught it and slammed his face into a support beam for an awning, dropping him easily.

"You...murderer..." She snarled with as much rage as she could muster as she had an unnaturally strong grip on his hair, Akamaru having been scared off already and running back to the Inuzuka compound for help.

"What did I do?" He winced as the pain shot through his skull.

"You don't remember, huh? Almost two years ago, you, that bastard Uchiha and some others killed a young vixen in front of Naruto-kun." She told him.

"Yeah, I remember that night... I got grounded for a year, but that look on the dobe's face was priceless!" He laughed, but her knee digging into his spine quickly silenced him.

"What do you care, anyway?" He sneered as he tried to escape, but she merely smashed his face into the ground again.

"I'm back for revenge...You bastard..." She snarled into his ear, making his blood run ice cold as another person made it to the scene.

"What's going on here?" Hana Inuzuka called out, to which Akane told her about what happened at the store and just now. She wasn't to pleased with his behavior, but Kiba still tried to justify what he did.

"She...she said that she wanted revenge for something! I didn't do anything to her!" He pleaded with his elder sister, but something pinged within her memory with what was said.

'_Revenge...for a murder two years ago? In front of Naruto-kun? Oh God...She couldn't be...The vixen that was killed that night...It was her!'_ Hana realised. She already knew about the Angels, since Naruto trusted her completely and she worked out why she'd be so pissed at Kiba. She looked over to the girl, who was visibly restraining herself from finishing him off.

"Akane...Listen to me, calm down..." Hana coaxed as the girl began to loosen and uncoil herself. She also lifted herself off of the excuse of an Inuzuka that happened to be related to her.

"That's good...Now, I'll take care this lump of shame on the ground and you should go home, where it's safe." Hana told her as she lifted Kiba roughly off of the ground by his hair and vanished in a Shunshin. Akane shook herself and she moved along home.

_'This isn't over yet...human...I'll make you pay for taking me from Naruto-kun...'_ Akane snarled as she continued on her way home.

_ A/N: It's been a while, but I've been busy! In three days, I'm headed for Little Rock, Arkansas for a contractor job working on F-16's for the Air Force. They actually had me to procure my own tools! I'll be there for six months, but I'll still try to update when I have the time. I won't abandon any fics without due warning._

_ Anyway...The older girls are showing a bit of a dark side, but it is completely justified for Ayumi and Akane. They were confronted with their murderers and got to exact a measure of revenge on them. Also, don't count on Sakura turning good anytime soon. She's might just turn into a certifiable loony soon, Sasuke withdrawls not withstanding. Also, the first of a few planned run ins with Kiba and Akane. Bear in mind, even in the anime, she's one of the more agressive girls, but here she's faced with one of her killers and now she's been accosted and harrassed by that person, so she's going to give Kiba a real piece of her mind. Also, don't ask about Hinata being in the pairing, since this is an Angels-only pairing with Naruto. Sorry Naru/Hina fans out there!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hey there...I'm back with another chapter. I have no idea if my fics or even my profile will survive this drastic change , but I will continue to crank out new chapters for you for as long as I can. As usual, if you need a recap, read back a chapter or two to get a feel for it again._

_**AKATSUKI BASE OF OPERATIONS - LOCATION UNKNOWN**_

The team that tangled with the now named Saint Beasts had finally returned to their base of operations in varying states of injury. Kisame still had a deep wound in his shoulder, Itachi looked like he was trampled, Sasori's body was riddled with deep gouges, and Deidara's arm was perforiated. Pain was at first in disbelief that four of his stronger shinobi had been taken to task as their current states suggested and from Zetsu's report. The rest of the Akatsuki had gathered so they could properly discuss how they were going to deal with this new threat to their objective.

"So...These four were powerful enough to not only injure you four, but send you running?" Pain inquired in an annoyed tone.

"Keh he he! You got your sorry asses kicked!" Hidan jeered, drawing annoyed looks from the returning party.

_**"They are quite powerful."**_ Black Zetsu answered.

_"Taking them down will prove quite difficult."_ White Zetsu added.

"What do they want with the Bijuu?" Konan asked, Itachi answering.

"They say they are the Gods of animals and the Bijuu are great spirits. However, when they are sealed, they become nothing but chakra batteries for their containers to use. They want to use them to regain their powers." He answered.

"What is their goal? What do they want with the demons?" Pain inquired forcefully, his Rinnegan eyes narrowed.

_**"...Complete annhilation of humans. They view humans with contempt and to them, a Jinchuuriki is a dire insult. They will merely kill the hosts and absorb the Bijuu to restore their powers. The more they find, the more powerful they become." **_Black Zetsu replied, his tone grave. Madara, who was hidden in the shadows, over heard everything and couldn't help but become infuriated.

_'These fools are of no use to me if they cannot defeat these upstarts. These...Saint Beasts need to go if my Moon's Eye plan can be realized.'_ The shadow leader of the Akatsuki mused as he went over the facts presented by his spymaster, but as he did, he remembered something he read once at the Uchiha Clan Shrine when he was still with Konoha...About the balance of nature prior to the rise of civilization as they knew it.

Before the dawn of the current civilization, there was a time when man and beast lived in perfect harmony with one another. After some time, relations between them had soured over the lack of space and food. Soon, the powerful Saint Beasts had had enough and were ready to go to war with the humans, setting the Tailed Beasts on them until the Rikudo-Sennin stepped in and intervened. He sealed all of the Bijuu within himself and sealed off the powers of the great Saint Beasts.

_'If they are really the Saint Beasts, we are in more trouble than I thought. We must capture the Bijuu before them and prevent them from carrying out their goal. My Moon's Eye plan must be realized.'_ Madara schemed as the rest of the Akatsuki went over their plans and ideas on how to deal with this new threat.

"We must track them down and eliminate them." Pain ordered, turning to Itachi as he thought of something.

"Itachi...Did you try to utilize your Sharingan against them?" He asked. The reply he got chilled them all.

"Yes...And my Tsukuyomi had no effect whatsoever. It only seemed to make them angrier." The Uchiha slayer replied.

"...Then we have to overwhelm them and hinder them every step of the way." Konan announced.

"How do they know where the Bijuu are located?" Kakuzu inquired.

_"It seems as if one of them can sense and home in on them over a limited distance. If a Jinchuuriki is near, they will be able to find them without fail. They were chasing the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki when Itachi and his team fought them."_ White Zetsu answered. Pain mulled this information over in his head before issuing a command.

"Zetsu. Keep tabs on them at all times and when they locate a vessel, alert us and we will send a combat team, such as Hidan and Kakuzu, to intercept them. We cannot allow them to interfere." Pain ordered as the meeting drew to a close.

_**SOMEWHERE SOUTH OF IWAGAKURE...**_

Trudging along the rocky and treacherous mountain paths of Earth Country we find the four Saint Beasts, who WERE hot on the tail of the Yonbi Jinchuuriki. Roshi, the Yonbi's container, was a hardened and wily war veteran ninja and therefore hard to catch and eventually, they gave up on him for the time being. The Gobi vessel had been found and they fought him, but he managed to fight his way out of their grasp and back to the nearby ninja village of Iwa, who sent out ANBU units to find his attackers.

"Dammit! These humans are a pain in the ass!" Gai complained as they made a quick escape from the pursuing forces. After an hour in a flat out running, they managed to outrun the units sent after them and rested for the moment, pouring over their options.

"These vessels are proving to be a real hassle to capture. They are all highly guarded or elusive." Rei surmised.

"I agree. On top of that, some of these shinobi are nothing to sneeze at, either. Especially those of the Akatsuki." Shin agreed.

"I don't care what it takes...I will NOT run from these filthy humans!" Gou roared in anger as he wheeled around to tangle with their pursuers again, but his younger brothers stopped him.

"Big Brother...Please listen to reason! These humans are not like anything we have faced in the past! They have become powerful and trying to take on a village full of them at once is suicide with our current powers!" Shin beseeched him. Shin was usually the voice of reason among them and got him to settle down...For now.

"Fine. In that case, we head back to Fire Country and hunt down the Nine Tails vessel. He is very young and more inexperienced than the rest of the vessels so he should be easier to catch." Gou ordered.

The rest of them sighed, knowing that in the mood he was in now, any argument would be met with swift and terrible punishment. They simply turned to the southeast and set course for Konoha again since they knew that it was where the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki would definitely be located. From the intelligence they could gather, he was shunned and hated by his home village, treated as a freak and outcast, meaning any resistance met while killing him would be light to none. The Akatsuki intercepting them was merely bad timing.

"Well...That is true. According to the reports, he is hated by his home village. This would be easier than the others for now, but we need to use caution." Shin warned.

"Why? We could tear that brat to shreds without breaking a sweat!" Gai boasted, but got cuffed by Shin.

"You idiot...Even though he is young, he still holds the most powerful of the Bijuu within him and if he can control even a portion of it's power, he will be dangerous." Shin rebuffed the youngest of the four.

"That's true. The last jinchuuriki we fought had full control over his Bijuu's power and we had trouble keeping up with him." Rei agreed.

"Agreed. We will use caution when taking him. After this is done, we can finally bring peace to _our _world." Gou added as they continued their trek back down to Fire Country.

_**MEANWHILE...IN THE HEAVENLY REALM...**_

The Goddess was watching the Saint Beast's movements with worry. They were greatly weakened by the Rikudo Sennin, but still a very dangerous threat, if how they fought off the Akatsuki was any indicator. The Akatsuki and the Uchiha boy alone were critical threats, but this only made things worse. She saw the night when the Uchiha nearly killed the girls, only for Naruto to take a killing blow for them and back up to take the insane Uchiha down. She was proud of how her Angels performed under pressure, backing each other up and Tsubasa fighting bravely alongside her master and especially of Naruto himself, for being willing to lay down his life to protect them. Then came how some of the good people that still existed in Konoha had come together to combat this threat from within.

Now, she turned her attention to the situation with the Saint Beasts and the subsequent revival of their leader, Gou the Azure Dragon. Eons ago, he was relentless in his drive to exterminate humanity from the face of the earth, down to the last man, woman and child. He even managed to somehow harness the massive power of the Nine Spirit Beasts and combined them into one being, the Juubi. The Rikudo Sennin, knowing what he had to do, tore the beast asunder in a great and cataclysmic battle that forever scarred the lands. He succeed in seperating the beasts from the whole and sealed them all away, along with the powers of the Four Saint Beasts within himself and took the knowledge of how to unlock them with him to his grave.

Unfortunately, humans had discovered how to capture the Bijuu and harness their destructive power...By sealing them into other humans and turning them into Jinchuuriki, Human Weapons. The poor souls that had been condemned to bear this awful burden had been ostricized from normal society for something they had no choice in, but they all now have much larger problems. Now, there was another group that desired the Bijuu, but for reasons that had yet to be revealed. The members of this group are very powerful shinobi who had turned their backs on their homes and went rouge, some of them commiting horrible atrocities in the process and afterwards.

Naruto Uzumaki, the boy in whom she had placed so much faith, is a prime target for both of these factions, but she has sent him some help in return for how much he had proven himself. She had now sent the final four of the twelve Angels whose lives were forever changed by the boy, who begged and worked hard for the chance to return to his side.

"Yuki...I have faith that you can rally the Angels and pull them in tighter. The storms in the village may have passed for now, but a much larger maelstrom is looming just beyond the horizon." The deity murmured as she continued to monitor how things went in her timeless realm.

_**SOMEWHERE IN RICE FIELD COUNTRY...**_

_**"!"**_ Orochimaru screamed in unearthly pain as he thrashed wildly in his bed while Kabuto, his assistant watched on, not knowing whatelse he could do. His master was rotting away before his eyes and he, with his vast talents and skills in the medical arts, could do nothing.

"K-Kabuto...Where is the...Uchiha?" The half dead Snake Sannin demanded.

"My lord...I just recieved a report that he had been thrown in prison for attempting to kill his own teammate." The bespecticled nin replied.

"I d-don't care what it takes...Get me that boy...I am running out of time..." Orochimaru ordered as Kabuto swepted from the room to fulfill his master's wishes.

Marching down the halls of the hidden base, Kabuto found his way down to where the Sound Four resided. The Sound Four were Orochimaru's elite honor guard, his top lieutenants and strongest fighters next to Kabuto and Orochimaru himself. The reason for this is because they are four of the only people branded with the Curse Seal to ever survive it. The four in question snapped their attention to him as he marched into their midst.

"What the hell do you want, four-eyes?" Tayuya, the only kunoichi of the group and a fiery, foul mouthed red head, growled. Kabuto wasn't really a favorite around the base since he was Orochimaru's monkey boy.

"I came here to give you a mission from Lord Orochimaru himself." He shot back.

"Oh really? What would _that_ be?" Sakon, the de facto leader of the four inquired with skepticism.

"He wants you to retrieve someone for him. The last Uchiha." Kabuto replied.

"What if he doesn't want to come? Can we rough that pretty boy up?" Jiroubo, by far the largest of the four asked.

"Yes you may, but nothing permanent. You know how the master hates bruised fruit. However, I doubt you will need to persuade him to come with you." Kabuto smirked.

"Care to enlighten us as to why?" Kidoumaru, the six-armed member of the group asked with uncertainty. He really didn't like it when he smirked like that.

"Sasuke Uchiha is currently a guest of the Konoha Maximum Security Prison system and would love nothing more than to see Konoha burn to the ground for it." Kabuto told them.

"W-wait a second...Maximum Security Prison? How the hell could we break him out even with our second level seals? We'd need a small army to breach the outer perimeter!" Kidoumaru exclaimed.

"Again...You needn't worry about that. Our...mutual business partner within Konoha's council will see to a _gap_ in their security. All you would have to do is slip in and extract him. It's simple, really." Kabuto explained.

The quartet mulled it over for a minute. They knew that Orochimaru's body was going to give out and that if he died, the curse mark would vanish, but if he did die, then Kabuto would more than likely use them for experiments. It was a fate even worse than their current one, so the choice was clear.

"When do we leave?" Sakon requested.

_**BACK IN KONOHA**_

It had been over two weeks since the trial and sentencing of Sasuke Uchiha and things have finally started to calm down in the village...

_**FLASHBACK...**_

_To start with, right after the trial, many of the Uchiha supporters were downright hostile to everyone, not just Naruto and the girls. Thankfully, they were few in number since many of them had been de-moralized by the public execution of the Civilian Counsel head, Atsugi Haruno. Add to that the fact that the supposed demon child had been willing to risk his life to save someone changed the minds of more than a few people, the small household had fewer problems than before, but Sakura was back from being catatonic and causing problems again, much to her mother's distress._

_ After the trial, Sakura was in near comatose shock from seeing her father killed in front of her, but it didn't last too long. After around two days, she was beginning to come around, but was shunning her mother in every way. One day, after around a week, Naruto came by to check on Kimi, who was a good friend of his and something of an aunt, Sakura came downstairs to find them having tea in the main room. _

_ "NARUTO-BAKA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE?" Sakura screamed._

_ "Having tea with an old friend." Naruto replied with a shrug, going back to his tea. After Naruto snubbed her, she completely blew a head gasket. Thankfully, her mother was an ex-kunoichi and a damn good one, still retaining some of her speed and knowledge as she hit a nerve cluster on her neck, knocking her unconscious._

_ "I think you had better go now, Naruto-chan. We can take tea another time." Kimi told him calmly._

_ The menace had also returned to the Academy with an even worse attitude than before. Her new rival and former bully, Ami, had heard about what happened to Sasuke and had only one thing to say._

_ "Good. If he was willing to kill innocent people, what would he have done to us?" She reasoned. It seemed as though she had gained some common sense along with slightly better grades and personality._

_ "You...TRAITOROUS BITCH!" Sakura shrieked as she threw herself at her now former rival, only for Iruka to take her down._

_ "HARUNO! That is it! Get out of my classroom! Consider yourself expelled!" Iruka roared, pointing at the door._

_ Sakura, being who or what she is, of course tried to yell back at him._

_ "M-My daddy will have you all killed!" She screamed and threatened the whole class._

_ "What daddy would that be?" One boy jeered._

_ "Oh yeah! The guy that got himself killed by the ANBU! What an idiot!" Another added, making the class roar with laughter as she ran from the room crying._

_ Ironically, this is what Naruto had to suffer through for years. But after a couple of weeks of it, Sakura was already tired of it. Sadly, her addled brain wouldn't make the connection as she tried to take out her frustration on the youngest of the girls Naruto had staying with him, Nana._

_ "You little brat...Sasuke-kun should have killed you and those whore sisters of yours!" She shrieked as she tried to slap the girl...Until a tall young woman around 18 years of age stopped her, three other girls with her. _

_ The woman had long, silky jet black hair with crimson colored eyes along with milky white skin. She was also somewhat tall and dressed in a casual day kimono. The first of the younger girls had chocolate brown hair and almond colored eyes, her hair done up in a manner that reminded one of one of those Tanuki statues. Moving on, another had pink hair in a long, skinny ponytail like a monkey's tail, with wide brown eyes. The last had lime green hair done up in pig tails that went out to the sides, but it was the ornaments that would remind one of a frog's eyes._

_ "You will not touch that child." The woman declared in a firm tone, a frown marring her lovely face and tightening her decieveingly powerful grip._

_ "Who asked you?" She bellowed back until Kurenai showed up to diffuse the situation._

_ "Haruno-san...Why were you going to hit an innocent child?" The crimson eyed Jounin asked in a frosty tone._

_ "None of your business, you red eyed freak!" Sakura snarled until Kurenai hit her with a subtle Genjutsu to knock her out. She sighed and turned to the assualted girl._

_ "I'm very sorry about this. I'll take her down to the jail." Kurenai apologized for Sakura's abominable behaivor, but the woman waved her off._

_ "No trouble at all, miss. Have a good day." She said amicably as the Jounin flickered away to take the now former Academy Student to the jails. She then turned to Nana, who could tell that there was something familiar about these people._

_ "Thank you, lady!" Nana thanked her._

_ The woman knew exactly who the little girl was, but wouldn't reveal that bit until she got to where ever her master lived._

_ "You are welcome, but I would rather you avoid anymore trouble." The woman kindly offered._

_ "Yeah! Yuki-neechan can handle these people!" The youngest cheered._

_ "U-um...Yeah." The long haired girl added timidly._

_ "Yuki-onechan is really strong!" The brown haired girl finished as they continued on their way._

_ "Okay...Come along now, Ruru-chan, Momo-chan, Midori-chan." Yuki beckoned the children as they followed her while Nana ran back to the house. _

_ Upon reaching the Uzumaki home, Nana burst into the door excitedly, eager to tell the others about her new friends._

_ "Nana-chan! Calm down and try again." Ayumi coaxed._

_ "I said that that Sakura meanie tried to hit me, but this lady stopped her and another ninja lady arrested Sakura and took her away! She had other girls with her!" Nana said a little more slowly, but at least they were able to tell what she was saying._

_ "What did the lady look like?" Mika asked, curious. Nana described her and the girls in great detail, but there was a knocking at the door. Tsubasa got up to answer it since Naruto was currently out on a day mission with a couple of Chuunin, doing border patrol. Upon opening the door, she was faced with the very woman that Nana had described to them._

_ "Excuse me? Is this the Uzumaki residence?" She asked to their surprize._

_ "Wh-What? Why are you looking for ma-Naruto-kun?" Tsubasa asked, almost blurting it out, but Yuki caught it easily._

_ "I would like to speak with him about something important...Sisters." She said, finishing the sentence with something sure to shock them and shock them it did. Ayumi, being the more observant one, gave each of the newcomers a once over and came to a surprizing conclusion._

_ "None of you are human..." She murmured, prompting Kurumi and Akane to take in their scents._

_ "She's right..." Akane whispered._

_ "They must be Angels, nano!" Kurumi chirped, just in time for the person they came to see to come walking up._

_ "Uh...Hey girls? Who are they?" Naruto asked. The eldest of the four smiled gently as she knelt down to see eye to eye with him, her hand cupping his whiskered cheek gently._

_ "Master...I know that I died when you were very young, but I hope you still remember me. I am Yuki, the Snake. I've come back to you, master." She explained to him. The realization hit him quickly. Yuki was his very first friend, so there was no way he'd forget her._

_ "I still never...Got to thank you for saving me." He choked out as he hugged her as tightly as he could. After getting himself sorted out again, Midori stepped up._

_ "Master...Remember how we first met? Y'know, with the paint cans? It's me...Midori, the Tanuki! I waited for so long to see you again, master!" Midori cried as she launched herself at him. He held her tightly, remembering the times he'd take her to Ichiraku with him and she'd snag some food and followed him everywhere...or how she would always sleep under the covers with him._

_ "I really missed you, too, Midori-chan." He replied as the next girl stepped forward._

_ "Um...Uh...I really...Missed you...Master...A whole lot!" Momo cried. Naruto remembered how he met her. She was a curious little monkey that came down the mountain and befriended him one day when he was on a hike. She was named for a peach she took from his bag. A tugging on his pant leg got his attention._

_ "Hey! Master! It's me! Ruru the Frog! I wanna play with you again, Master!" The little girl cheered. Naruto remembered how she hopped into his house one rainy day and would always come back, so he named her and always played with her._

_ All of this in one day was too much for the tired Genin, who promptly passed out._

_ "MASTER!" The girls all exclaimed as one, converging on the stricken boy. Ayumi and Ran both made sure to give him some breathing space as they checked him out. Thankfully, he was okay, just exhausted, so they put him to bed as they discussed what happened._

_ "The Goddess sent you?" Ran asked, being the de facto leader of the girls until now._

_ "Yes. In light of the Uchiha incident and from an impending danger looming on the horizon, she has sent the remainder of us down to Master's side. Allow me to formally introduce myself...I am Yuki, the Snake. I am a caster and fighter of the Senior rank." Yuki told them as she gave them a short, courteous bow._

_ "I'm Midori, the Tanuki! I'm a Tracker of the Middle rank." Midori said, Momo following suit._

_ "Umm...I'm Momo...A Healer...of the Junior rank...NICE TO MEET YOU!" Momo stammered out, blurting out the rest in a hurried bow._

_ "My name is Ruru and I'm a Caster of Junior rank!" Ruru said aloud, her arms crossed._

_ "Well...Now that that's out of the way..." Ran announced, the rest of them introducing themselves. Ran and Ayumi were glad that Yuki, a much more senior angel was there to help them and to take over the reigns of leadership amongst the girls, which they had been sharing, and that she could cull Mika whenever she went over the top like she had a habit of doing. The girls went on talking for a while longer until Shizune walked into the home._

_ "Hello! I'm here for the tutoring lessons!" She announced as she peered around the main foyer, seeing no one and getting no response._

_ "Hmm...That's odd..." She muttered as she ventured up the stairs, where she could hear voices. As she drew closer, she heard a batch of voices that she didn't recognise, so she zeroed in on it. The voices were coming from Naruto's room, so ventured inside. Once inside, she noticed that all of the girls were present...plus four more._

_ "W-what? There's MORE of you, now?" The Hokage's Assistant gasped. Yuki was now on edge. A human knew of them and nothing good could come of it. Ran and Akane caught her tensing and diffused the situation._

_ "Wait! She's a good human!" Akane called out._

_ "What do you mean?" Yuki asked, her eyes not moving away from the kunoichi for a second. This prompted the rest of the Angels to explain the situation and who could be trusted...And who knew about them. Yuki eased off and let out the breath she was holding in._

_ "I apologize for my error. I know of you, but not what you looked like. I hope you can forgive my caution." Yuki bowed, but Shizune waved it off. She realized that Yuki was probably the eldest of the girls, around 18 or 19 years of age, and therefore the leader among them._

_ "It's okay, really. Only myself and a select few know your secret and rest assured that it is safe with us. But I AM curious, though...What were you before you transmigrated and what types of Angels are you?" Shizune asked. Yuki was surprised that this human knew so much about them, but answered anyway, since she could be trusted with her master's wellbeing._

_ "Well...I was a Snake, Midori-chan was a Tanuki, Momo-chan was a Monkey, and Ruru-chan was a Frog. As for types, Midori-chan is a Tracker and Middle Rank, Momo-chan is a Healer, Ruru-chan is a Caster, while I myself am a Fighter and Caster." Yuki explained._

_ "You can be two different types?" Shizune asked, sounding impressed. Akane answered her._

_ "Well...It's really, REALLY hard to do, but it can be done." The Fox-girl replied as Yuki cleared her throat._

_ "Now then...I hear that you are training Ayumi-chan and Ran-chan in the healing arts? What kind of training are the other girls receiving?" She asked of the brunette._

_ "That is correct, Yuki-san. Since Lady Tsunade has her hands full trying to run the village, I fill in for her when called for. Also, Ran-chan and Ayumi-chan have been chosen to be her next apprentices, which is a huge honor. Lady Tsunade is known worldwide for her healing abilities, as well as a Kage-level ninja. Ran-chan and Ayumi-chan will inheirit all of it over time. The other girls have been training with other Jounin-sensei who can be trusted, but do not know of your secret. Two of them are our Taijutsu master, Maito Gai, and our Illusion Mistress, Kurenai Yuuhi." Shizune explained to the senior Angel, who nodded in approval._

_**FLASHBACK END...**_

Yeah...A lot happened over two weeks in the village and Yuki was getting settled into the village. The elder Angel met with Tsunade and the two came to an almost immediate understanding with one another. She knew that now the Angels on Earth now had some form of leadership amongst them and that Yuki wholeheartedly approved of her training the younger Angels to better protect themselves.

On top of that, Tsunade had to deal with Sakura's punishment. The girl had been raving and screaming at everyone she saw that she would get even with them one day from her cell until Inoichi was called in to deal with her. He performed a mental dive on the girl and found that her head had been really screwed with for sometime now, but he also found other things that she had seen in there…

_**FLASHBACK**_

_ Inoichi had just dove into Sakura's mind and was already regretting doing it. He could see from the condition of her mind that she had been on the receiving end of sexual abuse for several years at the hands of her own father. Apparently, he had been conditioning her to be slavishly loyal to the Uchiha in hopes of gaining an Uchiha grandchild as well as access to their coffirs and lands for himself. _

_ Inoichi cringed as he saw what she had gone through during her father's "Re-education", which also included heavy hypnotism, and having her conditioned to the point that she would lay on her back for the Uchiha at his will and do whatever he wanted . Her mother knew about this and had tried to stop them several times, only wind up a victim herself. _

_ Inoichi knew that Kimi was a strong and competent kunoichi in her day, nearly on par with Kushina, but he found out why she wasn't able to stop them. Her husband, while she was weak from giving birth, had strength sapping seals placed on her that left her physically weakened and cut off her chakra flow, preventing her from using any jutsu, giving him an ex-kunoichi to use and abuse as he saw fit. Kimi had also tried to rat them out, but no one would believe her and any investigation would be halted._

_ "That sick bastard…He got off easy when Yuugao offed him." He growled as he set to work on repairing at least some of the damage in her mind. _

_She had bore witness to several members of the Civilian Council plotting against the Hokage, her father himself killing people who raised their voices against them, and several other treasonous acts by other council members._

_He gathered as much information as he could while sealing away her memories for the past few years and erasing them. He knew that she would now be a small girl in a young teen's body, but it was the only way to erase the programming that she was running on without doing irreversible damage to her psyche. He went ahead and did it and got the hell out of there._

_**FLASHBACK END**_

Tsunade and her Investigation Department now had a treasure trove of incriminating evidence against many of the trouble makers on the Council, which she could use to begin culling them and punishing them for the many crimes they thought they would continue to get away with. Also, Sakura's mind had been reset back to before her father started his cruel plan to ensure an Uchiha grandchild. They did test after test on her mind, ran several psyche test batteries to ensure that she was no longer a danger to herself or anyone else. Kimi was now trying to adjust her daughter to the way the world is now slowly. She brought in Ino and Naruto to ease her into her new life. Things were going smoothly for the time being, although it was a tad bit creepy for a girl that was seven months older than Naruto to act like a 6 year old again. Kimi also knew that the shinobi program was no longer an option for her daughter since she was too young mentally to understand. Tsunade struck her name from the shinobi roster, understandibly.

Kimi was overjoyed that all of the harm her scumbag of an ex-husband had inflicted on her daughter had been erased, but Jiraiya had been told about the seals that had been planted on her and he had a way to take them off. He managed to get rid of the seals and her full strength had been restored, making her able to be a kunoichi again with some conditioning, which she did every few days with Shizune. She was told that once she could perform up to par, she would be added to the roster once again. Normally age would have been a factor, but she was still young enough to pull it off, being Shizune's age of 28 and marrying at a young age at the behest of her parents.

On another note, Kimi's parents, who survived the Kyuubi attack, were always kept in the dark about what Atsugi had been doing with their daughter and grandchild...Until Atsugi was executed and the evidence was found. They were both shocked and appalled with what they learned and had much to make up for. Another positive thing that arose from this was the fact that her parents had accepted Naruto, seeing as how they figured out who his mother was and it was no secret that she was the previous holder of the Kyuubi, as was Mito before them. They came by when Naruto was visiting and offered a formal apology. He naturally asked why and they told him that they were in the wrong for everything they had done or unwittingly had a hand in, to their daughter, to their granddaughter, and to someone that was once very close to the family. Kimi had known that her mother was once a kunoichi herself, but what she hadn't known and was revealed that she was a student of Mito Uzumaki herself. She believed that she had betrayed her beloved sensei by shunning one of her kin that held the same burden as herself.

Kakashi had found out about the trial the day after it happened, due to going on a drinking binge that lasted for over a month. He had been disgraced in the worse way and even worse, he couldn't blame anyone but himself. His team had been destroyed, completely. Sasuke was now serving a life sentence, Sakura's mind now a shell of what it was, and Naruto refused to have anything to do with him, Jiraiya and Tsunade promising a harsh punishment should he interfere in his life again. He was now forced to watch from afar as Naruto grew from afar, with no chance for redemption in sight.

Akane had a couple more encounters with Kiba during this time period. After Hana dragged him home after the first time, she and their mother laid into him to leave them alone or the consequences were not going to be pleasant. Kiba's hormones and over-fed sense of pride had always been a fatal flaw in the Inuzuka heir, one that he himself never bothered to fix. This time, it was going to cost him dearly. A week after the trial, Kiba had been looking around for her and had been intending to put her in her place and claim her when he found her with two other girls.

Being cocky, he made his way over to them and attempted to yank her away from them, but she wrenched herself out of his grip and the other two girls were just as pissed as she was. Mika cast a binding spell on him to halt any further movements while Akane and Tsubasa proceeded to pound and stomp him for his actions, both past and present. Hana, who had been looking for him due to a request from their mother to _"Drag his sorry ass back"_ and explain himself for some sexist comments he made to his sensei and kunoichi teammate when she happened upon him. Hana managed to coax them into calming down long enough for her to drag him back.

Once she got him home and told Tsume what he'd been up to, that was the final straw for the Inuzuka matriache. She gouged the marks on his cheeks, leaving an ugly set of scars in their place. This was an indication of shame and officially becoming the clan Omega, or their shamed one. He had been cast out of the line of succession for leadership of the clan and was no longer recognised as her son, an Inuzuka in name only. Even Akamaru had forsaken him, wisely choosing to side with the clan Alpha. Kiba was allowed to stay on Team 8, but would never be trusted again.

Things were now starting to stabilize after the trial that saw Sasuke Uchiha behind bars for the rest of his natural life. However, not everything was peachy.

The ones that hunted Naruto and his kind were drawing closer and closer. The Saint Beasts had been sighted less than a day's journey away from the village, prompting Jiraiya to relay the caution to Tsunade. In turn, she purposefully excluded Naruto from missions outside of the village, but he began to ask questions before long. Tsunade was tight lipped about it, but Jiraiya took him aside and told him about them. He took the boy to one of his safehouses within the village, where they would be undisturbed.

"What's up, Ero-sennin?" Naruto asked.

"Listen kid...You remember those two guy that attacked you when were looking for Tsunade?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah...One of 'em was Sasuke-teme's older brother, right? The Aka-whatever?" Naruto replied.

"They are called the Akatsuki and their goal as far as I can tell, is to extract the demons from hosts much like yourself, but the purpose or cause this is for is unknown. What we do know is that the extraction process is lethal, since there is no known way to separate one from it's host once sealed safely."

"Yeesh...These guys sound pretty horrible, then." Naruto grimaced.

"Naruto...That's not even the worst part yet. There is another group out there hunting down everyone like you and they have been spotted less than a day away from here. Tsunade already knows and it's time you knew, too." Jiraiya briefed him, telling him all that he had found out about the Saint Beasts.

It's a no-brainer that the boy was upset by this news. He was starting to get angry with Tsunade for not letting him go out on missions, having him stay within the confines of the village. He thought that she was just being over-protective, but this new information really shed some light on as to _why_ she had been acting strange as of late. She was trying to protect him the only way she could from them in short of going out there and taking them on herself, which would almost certainly be a death sentence.

"By your silence, I take it that you understand?" Jiraiya asked.

"Y-yeah…I need to train even harder than before, now. I don't want to hide behind Baa…I mean, Tsunade-kaachan. I don't want her or the girls to get hurt or killed because I wasn't strong enough to protect myself." Naruto realised, making Jiraiya grin and think that maybe his student wasn't such a blockhead after all.

"Well…Training I can help you with and from what Shizune's been telling me, those girls of yours have your work-a-holic habits at times. I think that you will do fine as long as we prepare you the right way." Jiraiya told him, trying to give his student confidence.

Jiraiya started really getting down to brass tacks on training Naruto after he found that the Saint Beasts wouldn't dare try to invade another village again thanks to what some connections in Iwa told him. If they had that much trouble from Iwa, just imagine what Konoha would do to them? They wouldn't make it out without sustaining serious damage, if they made it out at all.

_**OUTSIDE OF THE VILLAGE**_

Walking along the paths that led to Konoha, the four Saint Beasts made their way to claim their third Bijuu. They had already claimed the Rokubi and the Sanbi Bijuu, stopping by Mizu no Kuni on the way to Hi no Kuni and killing and absorbing their power. Now, they felt confidant enough to face whatever the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki could throw at them.

"So...This is Konoha...A nicely wooded area and I can sense something special about the area, as if there is a heavy spiritual presense here." Shin commented.

"I agree. Once we eliminate the humans here, we may set up a residency here." Gou added as they got down to business.

"We will need to sneak inside of the village since we will need to identify our target and try to lure him away form the village. That way, even if someone would help him, they won't make it in time and I doubt he could put up much of a fight." Shin adressed his brothers.

The four Brother gods managed to steal away inside of the village and began to look around for the a boy of 13 years old with blond hair. They were soon frustrated when the only blond that age was female and didn't bear the possession marks. They searched in vain for another few hours until they came across some girls that gave them an odd impression...Tsubasa, Akane, and Yuki, who were returning from one of the training fields.

"Two of those girls...Our brides..." Gou breathed. He never would have thought it possible that even one of them would be here, let alone two and together.

"I agree...We must claim them before we do anything." Rei stated, Gou agreeing. Gai and Shin were about to object when two more familiar presenses made themselves known.

Tamami and Ayumi were just now returning from the market with dinner for the night, the two of them using their more developed intellects to haggle a good bargain. Gai almost ran forward to claim his bride now, but Shin halted him.

"What? I WILL claim my bride! That bastard human enslaved them!" Gai snarled, but a sharp glare from Gou cowed him into silence.

"We will need to do this right. Gai, you and I will intercept them before they reach their home while Gou and Rei will...take care of that girl with their brides. This will have to be done quickly and we can use them to lure the container outside of the village." Shin proposed. The idea seemed like it would work, so they went into action.

The brothers worked quickly before the ninja of the village noticed them and reacted. There was a good reason why the shinobi of this village were feared, even if the atmosphere didn't display that. Ayumi and Tamami were able to be taken without much of a fuss, seeing as how neither of them were oriented for physical combat very much, but the other two proved to be a bigger problem. At the outskirts of the training areas, Gou and Rei showed up in front of the girls.

"My Queen...Come with me...We can smash these humans together and we can bring forth a world without them for us animals." Gou declared to Yuki while Rei was working on Tsubasa.

"Won't you come with me, my sweet? We were meant to be together, you know?" He smirked.

Yuki wasn't really amused by these two and neither were her two companions, but Yuki rememebred that the Saint Beasts were out and about and a realisation struck home. She lashed out on instinct at them.

"You have some nerve coming here..." Yuki growled. Akane and Tsubasa following her lead.

"My bride, you wound me with such words...Please come with me..." Gou repeated.

"The two of you are the Saint Beasts, aren't you? You won't touch our master!" Akane yelled as she darted in to attack them with surprizing speed, attacking Gou.

The Seiryuu caught the blow easily and pulled her to his face.

"Any who resist...Will be destroyed!" He roared as he let loose with a powerful punch to her sternum, cracking it and launching her into a tree, giving her a concussion and a head wound.

"You bastards!" Tsubasa nearly screamed in rage as she and Yuki attacked the pair in tandem.

Tsubasa was fairly fast and was putting Rei on the defensive, but he was holding back to avoid hurting his bride, as was Gou. They fight dragged on and eventually, a member of Team Gai arrived and saw the fight.

"What is going on here?" Lee exclaimed, seeing his friends get attacked by these strange men.

"I am Konoha's Beautiful Green Beast, Rock Lee! I will punish you unyouthful fellows for attacking my friends!" Lee declared as he rushed into the fray. At first, he wasn't taken seriously, but a ridiculously powerful four knuckle punch to Gou's jaw made him think otherwise.

"You...INSECT!" The Seiryuu bellowed as he stopped holding back belting Lee with a powerful hook that could have taken his head off if he hadn't been toughened up by his sensei. Instead, he was knocked through a tree, but Lee got right back up and back into the fight to their disbelief.

"It will take more than that to defeat the Green Beast!" Lee bellowed as he darted back into the fight and engaged Rei, using his conditioning to pepper the Suzaku with repeated blows and began pushing him back.

Rei responded by goring his shoulder and gripping his head with his transformed talons, Gou holding Akane by her neck.

"Now...Come with us, or they die." Gou snarled, squeezing Akane's neck tighter.

"F-fine...Just don't hurt them or master...And we will come with you." Yuki relented, her fists trembling. Gou looked them in the eyes.

"That is no longer your concern." He told them coldly as they blacked out.

Lee and Akane were discarded roughly, the two Saint Beasts shouldering their respective brides while Gou had a Crow send a message to Naruto as a lure. After the pair disappeared, the rest of Team Gai showed up.

"LEE! AKANE! What happened?" Tenten screamed as she began to tend to their wounds while Neji and Gai pulled her away to get them to the hospital.

_**KONOHA HOSPITAL**_

Team Gai rushed into the emergency room with one of their own and Akane when Shizune, who was on duty at the time saw them.

"Get them into the E.R, NOW!" The woman bellowed out, giving commands to the other medics. The medics diagnosed a cracked sternum, ribs, and a minor concussion, while Lee had a large goring wound to his left shoulder along with a sizable concussion. Ran, who was at the hospital, was working furiously to heal her sister and friend while wondering what happened to them.

"Who? Who did this to them?" She wondered. She knew that Lee and Akane were no pushovers, so who ever did this had to have been quite strong.

_**NARUTO'S HOUSE**_

Naruto had just gotten home from helping Tsunade organise the mission archives, greeting those who were still at home. Mika took it upon herself to _greet_ him in her own special way, by way of a flying glomp and face mashed into her generous bust.

"Welcome home, Master!" She gushed, the others coming now.

"I wonder what's for dinner tonight, nano?" Kurumi wondered hungrily.

"I dunno, but Ayumi and Tamami are late. They should have been home by now." Midori answered, making Naruto worried.

"Yeah...Come to think of it, Yuki, Akane, and Tsubasa aren't back yet, either." Mika added.

"That tears it. I'm gonna go look for them." Naruto declared as a crow began to peck at their windows.

"What the hell?" Naruto whispered as Mika opened the window and seemingly talked to it, but her eyes went wide with fear, her whole body trembling.

"W-what is it?" Naruto asked.

"The...four Saint Beasts...They're here in the village and they have Yuki, Ayumi, Tsubasa, and Tamami and they hurt Akane! They claimed them as their brides! They said if you have a problem with it, to meet them inside of Training Ground 44 tonight." Mika answered him.

"Those sicko's are gonna wish they were never born!" Naruto snarled as he bolted out the open window and into the rapidly approaching night at full tilt.

"Master NO!" Mika shouted, trying to stop him but her words were ignored.

"Big sister Mika...What should we do?" Nana asked.

"I...I don't know..." She muttered, slumping against the wall as she wracked her brain for an idea until it came to her.

"We need to ask Lady Tsuande for help! She's the only one that can help us now! C'mon!" Mika ordered, taking charge of the younger Angels and bringing them to the Hokage's Office.

_**TRAINING GROUND #44**_

Naruto arrived at the training ground quickly, scanning the area for any sign or trace of the four that claimed to have his precious people captive. He passed the area where he fought Orochimaru's giant snake, it's corpse still rotting there, passed the area where Gaara killed the group of Rain nin during the Chuunin Exams. Finally, he arrived at the tower in the center of the forest, the slight demoinc arua he was giving off driving away any would be preditors. He forced the door open to see the lights come on in the arena. Across the way, he saw the four girls standing still as statues with four males behind them, the smirks they wore pissing him off even more.

"So...Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune...You have shown yourself to us at last. I will admit that you have been the easiest to track down of all of your bretheren." Gou stated as he turned to the girls.

"Now...Brides of the Saint Beasts...Show your loyalty by killing this abomination!" He ordered, the girls eyes looking like they were possessed as they bore down on him with weapons to kill him as ordered. Naruto lept away from them.

"You sick bastards!" He bellowed as he ducked a swipe from Yuki's tanto and a stab from Tsubasa's.

"Just die, Jinchuuriki!" Gai yelled down at him as the girls fought on.

_'Damn! I don't wanna to hurt 'em! What can I do?' _He thought feverishly, trying to come up with a solution until one came to him. He quickly summoned some Kage Bunshin to aid him in restraining the four girls as he swiftly knocked them out without harming them. After setting them down gently, he faced them with a glare that could melt steel, his crimson chakra beginning to swirl around him.

_**"You bastards...You made me hurt them...You hurt Akane! I love them more than my own life! Now, you'll pay with your LIVES!"**_ Naruto screamed, his roar of rage echoing everywhere as the demonic chakra began to coalesce around him, forming the Kyuubi Shroud with two tails swaying angrily behind him.

For a moment, the four wondered if they had bitten off more than they could chew with their current powers as the Demon empowered boy seemed to disappear from view and connected with a vicious punch to Gai and launched him into the base of a massive statue.

"T-that hurt..." He groaned as the other three jumped into the battle.

Gou managed to get behind him and smacked him with a punch that could shatter a boulder, embedding him into the ground while Shin fired off his shards to try and slow him down enough for Rei to crush him. The shards hit home and embedded themselves in his back, but they were shoved back out and Naruto intercepted Rei in mid air, spiking him back down to the ground.

"Errgghh...He's more difficult to fight than I thought." Gou snarled as he got ready to attack again.

"We just need to wear him down! He can't control the demon's power properly, so we just need to outlast him!" Shin yelled to his brothers as they began to launch harassment attacks to wear him down without taking too much damage.

This had gone on for a few minutes and they were taking more damage than they wanted to, but it was starting to work as his movements were beginning to slow down. Finally, Gou landed a rock shattering blow to Naruto's stomach, forcing the air from his lungs and knocking him out of Kyuubi Mode and near unconsciousness.

"You little abomination...You have been more trouble to us than we expected. Now...We will take the demon from you and cast you into Hell, where mistakes like you belong." Gou snarled as they advanced upon him.

_**BYAKURAI!**_

A bolt of light suddenly shot through the roof from the skies above, making the four gods back off. As the light died down, the Goddess herself stood there, her expression one of fury.

"You will go no further." She told him in a firm tone, physically shielding Naruto from them.

"So...You have decided to intervene. But what power do you really think you have over us?" Gou sneered at her.

"I may not be able to do much, but make no mistake. I will NOT let you harm this child! He is to become the second coming of the Great Sage and restore balance to the world!" She declared.

"Even more reason to kill him! He left the animals to be enslaved! He betrayed us!" Gai retorted.

"He was trying to prevent a war that would have killed EVERYTHING! Human, animals, everything!" She argued.

"ENOUGH! I refuse to hear anymore of these lies! You have always been the lapdog of humans, you traitor! Now...You can _die_ as one!" Gou snarled as he lept in to attack, but...

_**IN THE VILLAGE, JUST AFTER NARUTO LEFT.**_

"WHAT?" Tsunade nearly screamed after Mika and the remaining girls told her what happened.

"We couldn't stop him! He's going to fight them on his own because he doesn't want to lose us again!" Ran cried.

"If master dies...I don't know what I'll do..." Akane whimpered, Midori clutching her for support.

"That little...SHIZUNE! I'm going out there! You and the girls track down Jiraiya and bring him to Area 44! MOVE!" Tsunade ordered as she seemed to disappear in an eyeblink.

"Let's go!" Shizune repeated as they all spread out to find the old pervert. Along the way, they bumped into Anko who was delivering a report at the time and she was told of what was going on.

"I'll go on ahead and help Lady Tsunade and the kid!" She told them she darted off.

After 10 more minutes of searching, they finally found Jiraiya around the Red Light District.

"Lord Jiraiya! You have to come with me!" Shizune pleaded.

"Whoa...What's got you so worked up?" He asked.

"The Saint Beasts! They're here in the village!" Shizune replied, in near hysterics. The old pervert's eyes went form shocked to cold and hard.

"Where are they?" He asked her coldly.

"Area 44! Naruto-kun is already there and fighting them! He kidnapped some of the girls to lure him out! Lady Tsunade and Anko have already gone ahead to help, but they will need you!" Shizune replied.

"I'm on my way." Jiraiya declared, vanishing in a gust of wind as the rest of them hurried back to the office to await further word.

_**FOREST OF DEATH**_

Tsunade and Anko had entered the forest, desperately searching for Naruto before it was too late. Finally, Tsunade could sense Naruto's chakra, faintly, but it was still there. They managed to home in on it and came to the Central Tower, he was unconscious but a mysterious woman was standing over him protectively, trying to shield him from four men they could only assume to be the Saint Beasts.

"So...You have decided to intervene. But what power do you really think you have over us?" Gou sneered at her.

"I may not be able to do much, but make no mistake. I will NOT let you harm this child. He is to become the second coming of the Great Sage and restore balance to the world!" She declared.

"Even more reason to kill him! He left the animals to be enslaved! He betrayed us!" Gai retorted.

"He was trying to prevent a war that would have killed EVERYTHING! Human, animals, everything!" She argued.

"ENOUGH! I refuse to hear anymore of these lies! You have always been the lapdog of humans, you traitor! Now...You can _die_ as one!" Gou snarled as he lept in to attack...

"I DON'T THINK SO!" Tsunade bellowed as she intercepted Gou's attack, sending him flying back into his brothers with surprizing force. Gou stood back up shakily, since Tsunade had put quite a bit of power into that blow.

"W-what's this? Another lowly human coming to your rescue like before?" Gou sneered again.

"Don't think you can come into MY village and do whatever you want!" Tsuande declared, her chakra now flaring.

"All we want is the boy! If you just give him to us, we will leave!" Shin tried to reason with her. He had heard that the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was hated by his village and if he appealed to their leader, she may just give him to them and be rid of him...But he couldn't have been more wrong.

"I WILL NEVER HAND HIM OVER TO YOU OR ANYONE! HE IS THE SON I'VE NEVER HAD AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL BEFORE YOU EVEN LAY ANOTHER HAND ON HIM!" The beautiful Sannin roared with fury.

"Then we'll just kill you and take him anyway, human trash!" Gai snarled and attempted to lunge at her, but he was snagged out of the air.

_**SENEI 'JASHU!**_

Snakes shot out and grabbed him in mid leap, grinding tighter and tighter. The attacker stepped out from behind a wall to reveal another kunoichi, the snakes coming from her sleeve and a killer scowl on her face.

"You're all snake chow, now." She told them coldly as she flung the Byakko back into his bretheren with crushing force.

"Snakes...You would betray your king?" Gou snarled to the snakes Anko had summoned.

_**"We bend no knee to you, Fallen One. How we conduct ourselves is none of your concern."**_ The serpents Anko summoned answered as they lanced forward to attack, their mistress and Tsunade right behind them.

Tsunade opened up with a punishing taijutsu barrage that made Gou, physically the strongest of the four, falter back while Anko was keeping the rest at bay with her summons and her speed. Gai and Rei were both bitten by her snakes, their venom coursing through them while she engaged Shin who launched salvos of shards at her only for them to miss. Gou managed to evade a blow that would have taken his head off and countered with a punch to Tsunade's face that seemed to phase her only for a split second before she was on top of him again.

The Saint Beasts had to admit that these two women and the boy had put up more of a fight than the Akatsuki members they had fought before, but another presence made itself know to them in the form of an older man appearing in a gust of wind. He looked over to where his student and Godson lay, where a strange woman was trying to heal and protect him and the four girls, then looked to his attackers with cold fury building up.

"So...You are the Saint Beasts that I've heard so much about. You picked the wrong village to target and the wrong people. Now...I'll KILL you...Personally." Jiraiya snarled as he lept into the frey, using a summon to assist him in battle named Gamahama, who fought with large tekkou on his forearms.

Rei took to the air as well as the enclosed arena would allow him to and attacked the large battle toad, but was swatted out of the air by a metal clad fist and into a wall with enough force to render him unconscious. Gai howled with rage at seeing one of his brothers fall and blindly attacked the Sannin, but Jiraiya was also very fast and very skilled, moving out of the way of the blow and employing the Kawazu Kumete, or Toad Style taijutsu to good effect. Soon, Gai was also taken out of the battle, leaving just an injured Shin and an even worse off Gou.

"You..._filthy_ humans...You may have won this round, but we will never give up until all of you are exterminated!" Gou roared, all four of them being encased in a blinding light and escaping the battle.

"Damn...I've gotten rusty." Tsunade panted as she dropped to one knee to catch her breath.

"Were they the ones, Lady Tsunade?" Anko inquired.

"Yeah...Those four bastards are the ones who are hunting down the Jinchuuriki and now we'd like to know why." Jiraiya replied, looking to the Goddess as he said this.

"I'd like some answers, myself." Tsunade added, she and Anko turning to the woman.

"I knew this day would come, and I am prepared to give you the answers you seek." The Goddess answered the three shinobi as she answered their questions.

She told them everything, including the true history of their world, not what they had been taught in school, and the true role the Rikudou Sennin played. This was a lot of information for them to take in and it was hard to believe. However, everything that was happening was telling them that they had stumbled into something of great importance to the balance of the world as they knew it.

"So...You believe that Naruto is the reincarnation of the Rikudou Sennin and that he will eventually bring balance to the world? The Toad Seer told me something similar to that...That I would become the teacher of the bringer of balance. At first, I thought that it was Nagato...Then Minato. Now...I think that old toad was talking about Naruto." Jiraiya surmised gravely.

"No...No no...I just took him in as my son...I will NOT put him in that kind of danger!" Tsunade responded vehemetly.

"I know how you feel, Hime. But you can't protect the boy forever. This incident just proved my point. I will need to step up his training. No more fooling around or research for now. Can you give me your cooperation on this, Hime?" The Toad Sage asked his old teammate seriously.

Tsunade warred within herself, her emerging maternal urges telling her to tell Jiraiya to take a hike were strong, but she knew that she wouldn't always be there to protect him, that he needed to be able to defend himself. He did a fair amount of damage on his own before they got there, but he is capable of so much more and her trying to shield him from the world would only stunt his growth. Jiraiya could see the conflict within her and spoke out.

"In case you're lost, you did the right thing in protecting him from the council. That is one area he can never have too much help with. I'm not telling you to cut him off or abandon him, just to let me train him so that if these people come back, and I know they will, he will be strong enough to face them." Kiraiya clarified for her, making her feel much better.

"I see...I'll agree to let you train him...But under one condition. I will NOT have him turning in to a pervert like you." Tsunade declared.

"Fair enough, Hime." He chuckled softly as they all turned to the Goddess.

"You hear that? You've got our support. I knew that brat was destined for greatness, but this blew my expectations out of the water." Jiraiya admitted.

"Thank you, Tsunade and Jiraiya of the Sannin, Anko Mitarashi. I have faith that you will make good on your pledge and help the future sage and the Angels achieve their ultimate goal. I must bid you farewell...For now." The deity told them as she was surrounded by a blinding light and vanished, looking as if she were never there.

"Wow...That was as first for me...Talking to a Goddess..." Anko murmured.

"Me too...C'mon. Let's gather them up and get them home for some rest. I bet Shizune and the other girls are worried sick right about now." Tsunade said as they picked them all up and headed back home.

_A/N: That's it for another chapter. I don't know if or when any of my stories will be affected by this new turn or event on Fanfiction, but as stated before, as long as I have readers, I will continue to write for them. As always, Read and Review._


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